***Our Greatest Sign

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 11, Jesus reveals to the crowd that his generation seeks a sign, but no sign will be given except that of Jonah, and he himself is greater than Jonah. Yes, Christ the Son of Man is our greatest sign for all generations. I see him as the ultimate one who desires to save us from sin out of pure love. Reject him and you reject yourself, period.

***Great Union Advantage***

        One more in-union-with-God advantage. Since you are fully aware of his holy presence in you at all times, you don't even need to try getting in touch with him!

**Exuberant Filling

        Communion experience I remain completely open to the Lord to let him fill me with whatever he wants me to have to the brim. What an exuberant feeling! 

***In Christ We're to Trust

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 17, Jesus cleansed ten lepers by asking them to go show themselves to the priests. The cleansing took place as they were going. One of the ten, realizing that he had been healed, returned to Jesus. He fell at his feet and thanked him. Jesus said to him, "Stand up and go; your faith has saved you." When the Lord saves you, you are saved indeed. So have faith and believe in whatever he tells you, and you're saved for sure. 

*****Ultimate Living

        If we remain in deep union with the Lord in the Holy Eucharist, nothing of the world will be able to disturb us and we'll automatically know how to live right for him. This the Lord made me see clearly today.

***Bread from Heaven***

         The Eucharist is truly the flesh and blood of our Lord. One must not receive this Most Holy Sacrament if he is not in a state of grace.

*A Wise Observation

         The time we have on earth is the time we have for getting ready to live our life after we leave the earth. 

*A Sensible Observation

        All nonhuman animals do not possess souls and live for this life only. We humans who possess souls should live mainly for our next life.  

**Be Smart, Not Dumb

        To think that you can be free by ignoring Christ is about as dumb as you can get. The Lord created you, knows you more than you know yourself, and loves you to death. You cannot survive one nanosecond without his sustainment! There is absolutely no way for us to hide or escape from him. The smart thing for us to do is to accept reality, settle down, remain with the Lord, rest in him, enjoy his company, and receive all the good things from him.

***Only Way for Us to Live*****

        To live for the God of Christ is the only way to go—I am totally convinced and know it without a doubt. It's only in him that we can find hope and fulfillment, for he is the true God, our creator, and the only one who can save us from sin. He is pure love; he died in our place so that we may have eternal life. Being the life himself, death has no power over him. There is not another one like him! 

*****What We Must Never Lose!*****

        Yesterday afternoon as I was typing an email on my laptop, the electricity went out, so I couldn't finish the letter anymore. My wife and I wondered how we're going to have dinner without the stove working? We're so dependent on electricity that we are lost without it. Soon the whole house will be in the dark. It seemed that the only thing left to do was to pray, hope, and wait. The electric company did call me though, informing me that about a hundred households were affected and I should have electricity back after three hours of work. To my surprise, it was restored after just two. My thought is that we should never lose Christ our Savior. Imagine what's going to happen if he's cut off from us forever! Losing electricity or whatever else we have is OK, but losing the Lord, the only one who can save our soul, would be absolutely unthinkable. So don't ever let it happen to you! 

*****Today's Big Tragedy

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 11, Jesus proclaimed, "Whoever is not with me is against me, and whoever does not gather with me scatters." To remain neutral is not good enough for the Lord (or us); we must be with him. The tragedy today is that people do what they think is good for them, not realizing that they are going against God. One such glaring example is Putin's invasion of Ukraine. Most people do what they think is OK, not realizing that they serve Satan. The devil is lurking in so many hearts today that you must be totally with Christ to realize it!

****Christ's Passion*

        Today is Memorial of Our Lady of the Rosary. I prayed the Sorrowful Mysteries for Friday. Christ went through his agony in the garden, was scourged and crowned with thorns, made to carry his own cross all the way to Calvary, and got crucified there. I have the 382-page book The Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ from the meditations of Anne Catherine Emmerich. Since I love the Lord, I'd like to read the book to find out more about what he underwent; but at the same time I put off reading it for fear that I wouldn't be able to bear learning all about his sufferings in detail. If I go through what Christ had gone thru, I wouldn't last a minute. Anyway, the important thing is that the Lord knows that I love him.

***Power of the Holy Eucharist***

         When you receive the Holy Eucharist, you receive the true body and blood of Christ our Lord and Savior, so it has the power to transform you totally. This is the Most Holy Sacrament that can purify your heart and heal your soul. It's the Lord himself entering you! Receive it with the greatest reverence, gratitude, and love, and you eternity is secured.

***Call to Come to Senses

         God has made all things, the heaven and the earth, and created every single one of us (and loves us to death besides). He is the Lord of all. So wake up—how can we possibly not submit ourselves to him?

**To Do God's Will Is . . .

really to be out of his way so that he may accomplish what he wills freely with no hinderance from us. It's also abandoning ourselves totally in him.

**Serving God Effortlessly

        God does his mighty work effortlessly. We, who do his will, have complete access to his power. Therefore, with faith and trust in him, we should also be able to accomplish his will effortlessly. 

****Most Endearing Relationship

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 11, Jesus taught his disciples the Lord's Prayer. Fr. Stephen in his homily pointed out that Jesus teaches us to call God, his Father, also Father or our Father. Think about this a moment. This is such a special endearing relationship! So let's treat God as our own Father, and see (and treat) ourselves as his most beloved children!