Thursday, January 5, 2023
***Why Christ Is Indispensable***
**Our Cooperation Needed
Jesus wants to be one with us. We only need to want to be one with him to make miracles happen.
**Joy of Knowing That Jesus Knows Me
In today's Gospel reading from John 1, Philip found Nathanael and told him that he had found the one about whom Moses wrote in the law, and also the prophets, Jesus, son of Joseph from Nazareth; and brought him to see Jesus. Jesus saw Nathanael coming toward him and said of him, "Here is a true child of Israel. There is no duplicity in him." Nathanael said to him, "How do you know me?" Jesus answered, "Before Philip called you, I saw you under the fig tree." Nathanael believed and said, "Rabbi, you are the Son of God; you are the King of Israel." The Lord knows everything about anyone and I feel the great joy of knowing that he knows everything about me. So I believe in him and he looks after and takes complete care of me.
Wednesday, January 4, 2023
***God Can Turn Things Around
I started watching this video a few hours ago and was greatly saddened to hear that numerous Catholics in northeastern Nigeria were hunted downed, killed, with their homes and churches burned and destroyed by the Boko Haram, the Islamic terrorist sect that aimed at wiping out Western education. After I learned such atrocities, I felt such a heavy burden that I wanted to pray extra hard for these persecuted Catholic brothers and sisters. Then the electricity went out because of the current storm. I had no choice but to go to bed and prayed a Rosary in the dark. A couples of hours later, lights came back on and I got up to finish watching the video. It turned out things did turn around and the Church now is growing bigger and faster than ever, and I rejoice at that. Watch the video to hear the whole story from the bishop there. Never lose our faith in our God, for he is loving and almighty. I am thankful to the Holy Mother for saying fiat always to the Lord in serving him.
***One and Only True God***
Loving Jesus fulfills all one's desires. I can testify to that. I believe that as our loving creator, he has made us this way so that if we get lost, we'll want to look for him. Also, the Lord loves us and desires that we love him back. To think that he won't be able to satisfy us completely is just absurd. By all this, I know that Christ is our one and only true God.
**Quick Way to Heaven
To skip purgatory and go straight to heaven after you die, do everything out of love for God.
***Maximum Reward***
Communion experience. I received what would make me incorrupt and immortal! The Lord is surely good!
***To Be Perfect and Happy
Zeal for God comes from God. In fact, all good things come from him, for he wants to maker us perfect and happy. We can never be totally happy if we are not perfect. So connect yourself to the Lord to receive all the good things from him to make you perfect and happy. The Lord has all you need. If you ask for the good things, he'll always give them to you.
**Called and Begotten
Today is the Memorial of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. In reading 1 from 1 John 3, the Apostle writes that "no one who is begotten by God commits sin." In the Gospel reading from John 1, Jesus calls his first disciples. We who now follow the Lord should know that he has called us and God has begotten us. This is an important realization. Not being aware of this can impede our spiritual progress. Converts often realize this more than cradle Catholics. Know that we are special and reborn, destined for doing great things for God's glory.
**To Be Humble Is to Be Humble
If you acknowledge that you are nothing before the Lord, you should do the same before all others too. This may be hard to do, but if you truly want to be humble for God's sake, shouldn't you go all the way?
***Heed Your Motivation
Today the Lord made me see that he knows everything about us through and through so that we'd better make sure that our motivation behind every move we make is pure and selfless. It actually is a great joy when you know yourself (and the Lord) so well that you can sense the purity of your motivation quickly. Ask the Lord to sharpen your conscience if you need help. This is important because doing seemingly good deeds with the wrong motivation makes you a hypocrite.
Tuesday, January 3, 2023
**Discerning Spiritual Gifts
The Lord gave Anna-Maria Taigi the criterion for judging any spiritual gift received. He said to her, "When it is the evil spirit, thou will experience anxiety; when it is Myself, thy heart will feel a great sweetness." In general, we can say that any anxiety you feel about anything cannot have been intended by the Lord. On the other hand, the peace and sweetness we feel after receiving the Holy Eucharist show that it's the Lord himself.
**Sequence of Knowing God (Most Beautiful Journey)*
Remain humble and cast all pride aside → look into Christ → accept him as Lord & Savior → open up to him → start falling in love with him → open up completely to him → yearn to attain union with him → surrender to him completely → attain union with him thru the Holy Eucharist → experience freedom, peace, and joy → aim for total obedience → go as far as you want → meet finally your beloved Lord.
***Loving the Lord Without Limits*****
I am continuing reading the book Wife, Mother & Mystic on Blessed Anna-Maria Taigi and am impressed by her holiness. Even though the Lord gave her many ecstasies, she begged their withdrawal and preferred to suffer for the atonement of others' sins. Christ approved of her heroic sacrifice and said to her, "There are few, very few, My daughter, even among the servants of God, who renounce spiritual delights in order to embrace suffering by love." I also recall St. Maximilian Kolbe, the Polish priest who volunteered to die in place of a man in the German death camp at Auschwitz. He once asked the Mother of God what was to become of him. She appeared to him, holding two crowns, one white and the other red. The white one symbolized purity and the red, martyrdom. She asked him if he was willing to choose one of the crowns. Fr. Kolbe chose both.
These two examples are just so inspiring. They show that there's no limit to how much one can love God, and this is precisely what makes living the Catholic life exciting. Even though we can remain in Christ and do not sin, we can still do better. As sinners, we always fall short of how much we should love the Lord. We are all different and some are called to be more heroic than others. Nevertheless, each of us should listen to the Lord's voice and do exactly what he tells us. Total obedience is our ideal goal and total submission the way to reach it.
Monday, January 2, 2023
***The BIG Question***
If we surrender to the God of Christ, we gain eternal life. So the big question for us is "To surrender to Christ or not?" If you cannot answer yes, that tells me that you need to surrender. Anyway, do not waste your whole lifetime on making up your mind, for that's all the time you have.
***Superior to Making New Year's Resolution*
To progress spiritually, never struggle hard on your own. The secret of success is to go completely passive to let the Lord do all the work for you. At this time, many people make their New Year's resolution(s). I would forgo that because it never works. What will work is asking the Lord to give you all the blessings you need to make you perfect and beautiful to him. He knows exactly what to give you, and you can ask to your heart's content and he can handle it. This is holy greed the Lord doesn't mind at all.
**God's Transforming Power*
Communion experience. I just know that the Lord can transform me or anyone else into a most holy person. His will is accomplished the moment we surrender our will to his.