***Sweet Sorrow***

       On this Father's Day, I feel great sorrow for our most loving Father because so many of us still reject his Son, our Savior. Then my sorrow turns sweet because I realize that I am suffering for the Father's sake. 

**Only Appropriate Response*

        Communion experience. God's love and mercy makes me speechless and want to submit myself to him completely.

**Responding to Anyone

        Our response to anyone should be exactly how the Lord himself would respond in our situation. That is, we let the Holy Spirit guide us entirely.

**The Lord Died So That We Might Live*

        Today is the Memorial of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Paul writes in 2 Corinthians 5, "Christ indeed died for all, so that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised." How appropriate it is that since he died for us, we should now live for him!

****Critical Awareness

         To let God change us, we must acknowledge that we are sinners and need him to do it. This is critical. Otherwise, we remain in sin and that's a most horrible thought. 

***Way to Become Holy

        Today is the Solemnity of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. In the Gospel reading from Matthew 11, Jesus exclaimed: "I give praise to you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, for although you have hidden these things from the wise and the learned you have revealed them to the little ones. Yes, Father, such has been your gracious will. All things have been handed over to me by my Father. No one knows the Son except the Father, and no one knows the Father except the Son and anyone to whom the Son wishes to reveal him." On this holy day, what I learned from Fr. Phil's homily was that we must always speak from our hearts with humility. I see that if we can do that, we are holy.

***Special Love for Mary Our Mother***

        During morning Mass, I felt the special love many of us have for the Holy Mother. We were all born of a mother on earth who is special to us. Of course, our earthly mother may not be able to love us for whatever reason, and the Lord knows that. So he gave us a perfect Mother in heaven who can always watch over us and lead us to her Son, our Lord and Savior. That's why she is so special to me. She's my perfect companion in doing God's will and I love her with all my heart and soul. She is inseparable from me as the Lord, the only difference being that the Lord alone is God and is to be worshipped. If you believe that you love Jesus and don't need Mary and all the other saints who truly love the LORD, then you've been misguided. 

*****Faith Means a Lot to God

        When you attain union with the Lord, you experience freedom, peace, and joy. He showed me today that if you experience only sorrow but still believe that he is with you, he will bless you extra. 

***Highest Level of Intimacy

        Communion experience. By receiving the Lord into me with all my heart and soul, he raises me to the highest level of intimacy with him.

***Rejoice if You Follow Christ*****

        Because Christ loves us with a pure love, we can also love him and others with a pure love. Because his love for us is infinite, our love for him and others can also be boundless. Being most holy, he can make us holy. Being most beautiful, he can make us beautiful. Last, he is the life eternal. By remaining in union with him, we have life eternal too. We can not possibly get any better!

***Sanctity alone Shines Bright

        The saints are the ones that shine the brightest before the Lord. How high a position you hold within the Church on earth is not a determinant. 

**Highest Level of Existence

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 5, Jesus said to his disciples: "Do not think that I have come to abolish the law or the prophets. I have come not to abolish but to fulfill . . . whoever obeys and teaches these commandment will be called greatest in the Kingdom of heaven." When we obey the Lord God in all things, he raises us to the highest level of existence!

*****Most Precious Food*****

        Communion experience. In John 6:54, Jesus said, "Whoever eats my flesh and drinks my blood has eternal life, and I will raise him on the last day." So the consecrated Host I consume is no ordinary food—in fact, it's going to make me live forever! This is absolutely the food that's dearest and most precious to me—it's the Lord himself.

***World on the Brink***

        For most of the world, it's not God's will be done, but my or our will be done. This will bring about its downfall in the end. In trying to gain the whole world, they forfeit their lives! Saddest of all is that this is also happening within the Church, the body of the Lord. With so many souls at the risk of being lost forever, the time to pray for the world now is more urgent than ever!   

***God Can Only Love*

        God loves all of us and commands us to love our neighbor as ourselves (Matthew 22:39). In other words, we must not hate anyone or wish anyone ill. Yes, we should even love all evildoers and wish them well. True mercy is limitless. By obeying the Father, we glorify and honor Him.

**Going Beyond Salvation

        Today is the Memorial of St. Anthony of Padua. In the Gospel reading from Matthew 5, Jesus said to his disciples: "You are the salt of the earth. But if salt loses its taste, with what can it be seasoned? It is no longer good for anything but to be thrown out and trampled underfoot. You are the light of the world. A city set on a mountain cannot be hidden. Nor do they light a lamp and then put it under a bushel basket; it is set on a lampstand, where it gives light to all in the house." So it's not just we get ourselves saved, we must be useful to the heavenly Father by doing good deeds to glorify him.

***Logical Conclusion

        Jesus has died for us on the cross, redeeming us with his own precious blood. Certainly, he will do anything for our good if we remain open to him.

*****Incredibly Wonderful Things

        Communion experience. It's so good to let the Lord overwhelm me because by doing so, incredibly wonderful things happen: He takes away all my sins, heals my soul, draws me into union with him, and fills me with his most beautiful love!