***Relationship with God Says It All

        If your relationship with God is right on, you would feel good about everything. But if you try to avoid or hide from God, you'll never be able to feel good about yourself! This is how God has made us.

***Formula for Entering Kingdom of Heaven***

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 7, Jesus said to his disciples: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven." Here revealed is the simple formula for entering the Kingdom of heaven. We do the will of the Father and our future is taken care of for all eternity, and we don't have a thing to worry about anymore. Truly believing in God requires being obedient to him. So let's make everything we do an act of submission to God. 

**The Lord God Most Reliable

        Winter hasn't officially begun yet, but the local weather has dramatically changed. When I went to St. Joseph's Chapel for Mass this morning, it was darker than usual and raining, with strong winds howling. Normally, from inside the chapel, the stained-glass windows appear bright and colorful, but this morning their all looked dark as if the light outside had been switched off. Anyway, with weather changing for the worse, I know that my Lord and God will always remain the same and be trustworthy. This is a great comfort to me.

*Wise Petition

        Communion experience. I just asked the Lord to displace all my pride with simple humility, for I knew that this would please him and give me more peace. 

***Christ Heals!

        Jesus came to cause division because he knew that not all of us would accept him readily. But let us realize that there is no division he cannot heal, for he is our greatest healer and his true intention is to bring us peace to our hearts and the world.  

***Think of Ourselves as Nothing

        We all have pride and when it gets hurt, we feel hurt. The remedy is to see ourselves as nothing before the Lord. Today is the Feast of St. Andrew, Apostle. In the reading from Psalm 19, we hear that the LORD gives wisdom to the simple. So be simple and become wise, then we'll shine before him. Focus upon loving God alone and not think about ourselves much is the way to go.

***Urgent Need for Prayer

          Innumerable souls are teetering on the brink of falling into hell now; probably many do stumble or slip and fall into it every second. Keep this picture in your mind and show your love for God by praying hard for the salvation of all of them.  

**To Become Free for God

       First, you need to be free of ourselves. Then you'll be free from the world and ready to belong to God exclusively. That first step is crucial—taking it would require great humility and faith. But once you do it, nothing can stop you anymore. You have now officially become a bona fide child of your heavenly Father. (This is also the step you need to take in seeking union with God.)  

***We Are Important to God

         We are not nobody. On the contrary, we not most important and precious to God for the following reasons. (1) God as our Father loves us to death. (2) Each of us is unique and most personal to him and he would do anything to make any of us eternally happy. (3) We are indispensable to God, for only thru our diligent prayers will we have peace in the world and salvation of all its inhabitants. 

**Let Advent Begin in Our Heart

        The Advent season has begun. Christ has already come and will come again. In the meantime, we'd better let him enter our hearts. We'll all go to him sooner or later and it's best that we don't meet him with an empty heart.

***Wonderfully Made by God

        I felt a little tired, so I went to bed to rest a little bit. I turned on the radio and the light jazz that came out was relaxing. Things were OK for the moment. You can add drinking some good wine, having a good sex life, traveling to visit all the beautiful places around the world . . . but I instantly knew that all such things could never completely satisfy us. Living like that forever may be better than living in hell, but something is missing. And it's clear that something is the Lord God. Only in heaven shall we be completely satisfied when we'll be with him forever—God has made us for himself.

***Sign You're Ready for Jesus' Coming

        Today is the first Sunday of Advent. In the Gospel reading from Matthew 24, Jesus told his disciples to be prepared always, for he will come at an hour unknown to us. Of course, for those who are not prepared, he will always come at an unexpected hour. But if you long for the Lord, you are definitely ready for his coming at any time.

****Super Climax for the Faithful*

        All true Christians have this to look forward to. They are going to return to the Father who created them out of love to live with him in his house forever. This is the Father they have never seen, but now they are going to inherit everything he has for them. There can be no climax more exciting and joyful than that.

*****Breaking Free from the World

        When we don't have Christ, we have the whole world to us. This is the situation the worldlings are in. Once you gain the Lord, you lose the whole world as it no longer tastes good and becomes even repugnant to you. Now the world rejects you for having rejected it. This is a warning I am giving you, so you can be prepared should you decide to go all the way with Christ. Gaining the Lord is truly the only thing that makes life worth living. Knowing that you are losing the world shows that it can no longer hold you as its prisoner and you are on your way to eternal freedom. Hallelujah! 

***Tragic Misunderstanding

      I have mentioned in the past that many Protestant preachers don't consider Catholics to be Christians. They even believe that all Catholics are headed for hell. This is a big tragic misunderstanding. I came across this video today which I believe can clear things up a bit.   

**Dumb, Radical Questions

        Today's radicals and ultra-leftists have no answer to why they believe in what they believe in. This is also a tragedy. Here you see Kristan Hawkins, President of Students for Life, fend off some of the dumb, radical questions.

**A Tragedy

        It is tragic to see people, even Christians, who do not truly know Christ. They are still immersed in seeking fun in the world. As a result, their children are like that too. One day, they'll be rudely awakened to see the truth. It'd be so much better to see the truth now than later.

**God Remembers Our Sins

         We sin and try not to face the fact or try to forget it, but God the Father remembers every sin we've ever committed against him—there is just no escape. So it's best for us to repent of every sin right after we are aware of it and ask the Father to make us holier. This is the process for us to continue until the day we die. But if you can attain union with God thru the Holy Eucharist, you can become a saint.