***Our Only Savior*

        We were born sinners. We can try to stop sinning on our own, but what guidelines should we follow? Our own or someone else's? Living in this secular, material world filled with temptations, how long can we remain untouched? But we have Christ who can not only take away our sins after we repent of them, but also remove our tendency to sin as well! For he is our Lord and creator, the only one capable of fundamentally changing us to save us from sin. 

*Motives of the Heart

        In today's first reading from 1 Corinthians 4, Paul writes that the Lord will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will manifest the motives of our hearts. If our motives are always good and pure, even if we fail in what we do, we do not need to worry about God's judgment. Know the Lord well and he'll take care of your motives.

***Standing Up for Faith and Tradition

         I wish this would happen in this country too.

**Becoming like God

        We surrender ourselves to God so that can become like him. Once we become like him, we experience tremendous freedom and satisfaction. 

**True Humility

        One who is humble is not affected by what others think of him nor what he thinks of himself; he only cares about what God thinks of him.

**Responding to God's call

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 5, Jesus called Peter, James, and John, and they left everything and followed him. This is way the we should respond to the Lord's call, and he is always calling us! He may want us to pray more, to fast, to tell a friend about Christ, to stop complaining or worrying, to watch less TV, to get up early in the morning, etc. We must respond without hesitation. It does take discipline, but to say "I'll do if for your sake" to the Lord each time starting out can get you going. Soon you'll know the joy and satisfaction of always answering his call.

**Be Truly Wise in the World

        In today's first reading from 1 Corinthians 3, Paul writes that the wisdom of this world is foolishness in the eyes of God and that the thoughts of the wise, as it is written, are vain. To me, the world knows how to make gains for itself well, but what profit would there be for one to gain the whole world and forfeit his life? (Matthew 16:26) We all are going to depart from this world one day. True wisdom is following the Lord now so that you gain life for all eternity. It goes way beyond and above the wisdom of the world.

*God's Powerful Presence

        Communion experience. The LORD was so powerful that I almost stopped breathing freely. I didn't mind that at all as I had experienced that before when I was praying, reading, blogging, or hearing something special said. When the Spirit of God takes over, you gladly submit yourself to him. 

**Most Beneficial Thing to Do

        It dawned on me this morning that attending Mass is the most beneficial of all the things I do. When l go to Mass, I get to receive the LORD in the Holy Eucharist, enter into union with him, and be assured again of going to heaven, not to mention the blessings I receive continuously throughout my life as a result of it. Nothing else I do can make such great gains.

**Prerequisite to Exaltation

         To forget about yourself is to forget about your ego. Without an ego, God is ready to exalt you.  

**Christ Makes Us Beautiful

      Communion experience. I was so grateful that the Lord made me see all my warts and faults so that I might become more perfect. If you are not happy about yourself, go to Christ to let him make you beautiful.  

**Banishing the Ego

         Yesterday I misunderstood someone and said something that could have offended him. If I did offend him, I should appropriately feel sorry about that. Then I  sensed that perhaps that person no longer thought highly of me—I instantly realized the presence of ego. What people think of me should never be my concern; it's doing the right thing for the sake of the Lord that I need to focus upon only. The ego is to be banished forever!

'**A Christian's First Duty

        Don't ever believe that God has made you so that and you can't change. Since God has created you, surely he can change you for the better. In fact, a Christian's first duty is to grow holier and holier. This is how we can get close to God.

*Contrasting Fires*

        The fire of hell is most horrible, for it is to inflict punishment on the damned forever. On the other hand, the fire of the Holy Spirit is most gentle and sweet, for it burns our sins away and enkindles our love for God. Enjoy the fire of the Holy Spirit now to avoid the fire of hell forever.

**True Love vs. No Love

       One who truly love others would want everyone to go to heaven. But evildoers full of hatred don't care about anyone's soul, not even their own—they are to be pitied the most. 

***Go Fearless!

        Today is the Memorial of the Passion of Saint John the Baptist. In the Gospel reading from Mark 6, we heard read that King Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. The reason he feared John was that he knew he was a sinful man. People avoid Christ also because they basically don't want to expose their sins. When your relationship with the Lord is right, you are totally comfortable with him. You lose your fear of him because you know that he loves you, and you also lose fear of anyone else because you know that the Lord is now with you.

**Best Way to Know God

        There are myriad counsels available to us from the Holy Scriptures, the saints, various authors and speakers, etc. Take the example "You shall love God with all your heart..." We know that it's right, but practicing it may not easily follow, for if the heart is not ready, nothing will happen. Since the end is know God, it's best that we approach him directly first. Once we know him, we'll know how to follow all the counsels without any effort. There's no better way than going to the greatest Counselor first to get counseled. He is open to us at all times. Pour your heart out to him and he instantly hears you. Our God is our Father, our Brother, and our Best Friend, the one who loves us the most beyond our comprehension. To ignore him is to be the greatest fool. 

**Repayment Not Our Concern

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 14, Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees. He told a parable to those who had been invited. Here's the final counsel he gave them: When you hold a lunch or dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous. The bottom line is "do not expect repayment for whatever you do." Being repaid by others who have received some favor from you is meaningless, for it only servers to inflate your ego. As for the repayment by God, it will definitely come should you deserve any. So just focus upon doing good for the Lord and forget about repayment.