***Jesus Our Brother***

        Jesus taught us to address his Father as Our Father and from the cross he gave his own mother to be our mother. So he is not only our LORD, but also our brother. Let us rejoice and thank him for such generosity!

**Sensing Eternity

         Communion experience. The Lord is eternal. United with him, I become eternal with him. Mind-blowing realization!

*No-Worry Living

        Today I am aware that Almighty God, my creator and Father, loves me and has already promised me eternal life. He is totally for me, so there is nothing for me to worry about anymore. To live in God is to live for God.

***Dearest One

        Communion experience. I receive the Lord and possess all of him. He is now the dearest one to me!

**Fear of Suffering Must Go

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 12, Jesus in telling the parable of the tenants to the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders quoted this Scripture passage: The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone; by the Lord has this been done, and it is wonderful in our eyes? Of course, the Lord is referring the stone to himself. When he was rejected, he suffered so much as to die on the cross for us. If we love him and wish to follow him, we must not be afraid of any sufferings that come our way. To suffer for his sake is the key to freedom and salvation. Not wanting to suffer in a way amounts to not wanting to make heaven.

**Getting Ready for Going Home

        Communion experience. Receiving the Lord to be in complete sync with him—this is preparing for going home to the Most Blessed Holy Trinity. 

***Our Biggest Blunder***

        Today is the Solemnity of the Most Holy Trinity. The first reading comes from Exodus 34. Early in the morning Moses went up Mount Sinai as the LORD had commanded him. Having come down in a cloud, the LORD stood with Moses there and proclaimed his name, "LORD." Moses at once bowed down to the ground in worship. Then he said, "If I find favor with you, O Lord, do come along in our company. This is indeed a stiff-necked people; yet pardon our wickedness and sins, and receive us as your own." Why do people then or now remain so stiff-necked, not willing to submit themselves to worshiping the LORD?  Don't they see that by surrendering to Him, they will enjoy freedom, rest, and peace? To not see it has to be the biggest oversight, misunderstanding, or ignorance of all time, if not downright rebellion against God. 

**My Cup Overflows*

        Communion experience. It is a tremendous deal to receive the Lord in the Holy Eucharist. He fills my cup to overflowing and I must not remain the same person anymore. 

***Only Trustworthy One

        If you are looking for someone to trust in, look no further than Jesus. He's so trustworthy that you can give him your soul for safekeeping. Besides, he deserves our trust and belief, for he has already paved the way for us to go to heaven!

***Cool Jesus

        This is today's reading from Mark 11. Jesus and his disciples returned once more to Jerusalem. As he was walking in the temple area, the chief priests, the scribes, and the elders approached him and said to him, "By what authority are you doing these things? Or who gave you this authority to do them?" Jesus said to them, "I shall ask you one question. Answer me, and I will tell you by what authority I do these things. Was John’s baptism of heavenly or of human origin? Answer me." They discussed this among themselves and said, "If we say, 'Of heavenly origin,' he will say, 'Then why did you not believe him?' But shall we say, 'Of human origin'?"—they feared the crowd, for they all thought John really was a prophet. So they said to Jesus in reply, "We do not know." Then Jesus said to them, "Neither shall I tell you by what authority I do these things." Read through all the Gospels and the Lord comes across as one who is always humble, merciful, poised, speaking the truth without fear, and never pandering to anyone. In today's lingo, you'd say that he's an absolutely cool guy.

***Our Dream State*

        By accepting God's love for us wholeheartedly, we can form the strongest possible bond among us, uniting all of us as one in the Lord. This would be our dream state!   

**Concern for the Soul!*

        Early morning I opened the window in the family room and heard a bird singing happily and beautifully from a distant tree. I have a lot of open spaces around my house, so I could hear distant noises and sounds clearly. The thought that came to my mind was that I am happy too. The only difference is that I have a soul to take care of. Since I've already done that, I'm now extra happy.

**Living the Triumphant Life

        Communion experience. Once your union with God is assured, you let love take over to overcome all obstacles.

***Making Prayer Work

        In today's Gospel reading from Mark 11, Jesus said to the Twelve, “Have faith in God. Amen, I say to you, whoever says to this mountain, 'Be lifted up and thrown into the sea,' and does not doubt in his heart but believes that what he says will happen, it shall be done for him. Therefore I tell you, all that you ask for in prayer, believe that you will receive it and it shall be yours." So we should always pray with bold faith. It's better not to pray than praying without much faith. 

**Lovely Act

        When we submit ourselves to the Lord God, we really surrender ourselves to his love for us. And this is a most lovely act. 

***Stark Contrast

        Jesus showed his greatest love by laying down his life for us, while today so many crooked politicians demonstrate the greatest lack of love by caring only about staying in power and not about the well-being of the people they are supposed to represent. These are genuine hypocrites. 

**Cool Realization

        Today Friday I again prayed the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary. When I was deeply moved by how Christ suffered for our sake, I realized that I was indeed made in the image of God, and I rejoiced in that. 

***Difference Between God and Us*

        We can have good intentions in performing something and end up with a bad performance. Now, people will always remember our bad performance, but God will remember only our good intentions.