***Existence Fulfilled***

        Today at morning Mass it came to me that God the Son loved me so much that he even died for me on a cross! This realization completely fulfilled my existence, making my life meaningful and rich; it's pretty incredible. Christ is truly our perfect solution to the riddle of life. 

***God Eager to Forgive*

        We can never be 100% pure in this life on earth. As long as our sins are venial and we are in a state of grace, the Lord still invites us Catholics to receive him in the Holy Eucharist. I believe that he removes all these sins as well before or as he enters us. From the Gospels, we learn that he readily forgave the sins of those who showed great faith in him. It's love for and trust in the Lord that count. Repent of our sins and ask him to forgive us and all our sins are gone! So there's no good reason whatsoever for us to remain in sin which causes only misery for all!

*****Readying Ourselves for Judgment*****

        We'll be judged by Christ either right after our death or at his second coming. Since we do not know which will happen first, it makes perfect sense that we live in order to be ready for our judgment. If this sounds somewhat morbid to you, then you are not yet ready. If you feel great joy, you are definitely ready!

*****Most Loved One

        Why do many of us love Christ more than anyone else? ANS: Because he is LOVE and love is the most powerful force there is. When we love him, we are set free and no evil can ever touch us anymore!

***Letting God Make Us Perfect

        Communion experience. I receive the Perfect one who can perfect me. Nothing is impossible for us after we let him be our Lord.

**Requisite for Discipleship*

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 14, Jesus addressed the great crowds on discipleship. He said to them, "Everyone of you who does not renounce all his possessions cannot be my disciple." So the Lord come first and we detach ourselves from everything else and love others with his love. This may be tough for many of us, but at least we must have such an intention if we ever wish to gain eternal life. (We know that if we exclude God altogether, we'd get nowhere. So the truth is that the more we let the Lord take over, the easier it becomes; and everything becomes possible when we abandon ourselves to him totally.)

***Nonstop Blessing by God*

        Today's response to readings from Psalm 112: Blessed the man who is gracious and and lends to those in need. From the psalm, we see that the LORD also blesses anyone who fears him, who greatly delights in his commands. It's just so easy to get the LORD to bless you. If you follow his commandments and do his will always, you are blessed by him every single moment of you life! And that is absolutely awesome!

**Best Belonging

        Communion experience. It feels so good that I belong to the Lord and am totally his, such freedom, such consolation!

***Same Old Excuses*

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 14, we heard read the parable of the great feast from Jesus. A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many, but one by one, they all began to excuse themselves. It's the same today. Many give excuses for not accepting God's invitation to enter his kingdom, not revealing their real reasons. Hypocrisy will be with us so long as we rebel against God. 

***Greatest Possible Consolation***

        It seems that nothing can be worse than losing your own life and all your possessions. But Christians disagree because they know that no matter what happens to them, their souls will remain intact for all eternity! That's their greatest possible consolation.

****Most Exciting Learning Process*

        Learning or learning about something new can be fun and/or exciting. Examples are learning to swim, learning about a country and its culture, reading about how to save big money, etc. But the most exciting and satisfying learning experience is learning God's ways and thoughts, for you can end up becoming like God!

**Meaningless Living*

        There are many dramas you can watch on TV. The Koreans ones are particularly popular because the story or plot is always well written, easily drawing you in. The stories might not be true, but they do portray real lives. Most of us are like those characters in those shows—we seek happiness, but we also deal with problems at home, at work, among friends and lovers. It does seem to me that going thru life like that without involving God is ultimately meaningless, even if the ending turns out to be happy. With God involved, you would seek his will, do things according to his plan, and discover how he resolves all the problems for you, etc., and living becomes meaningful. Of course, this is not to be expected from a secular industry. They have succeeded in entertaining us, but we remain as worldly as ever. We need to experience the real God of Christ in our lives!

***Most Precious Food***

        Communion experience. This precious food from heaven I receive does not guarantee good health or longevity for me in this world, but it absolutely assurers me that I'll live forever with my Most Loving Father for all eternity after I leave here. This is plenty good enough for me! 

**Pure Giving & Serving Valued by God

        This is today's Gospel reading from Luke 14. On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees. He said to the host who invited him, "When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." So we should give and serve without expecting to be repaid in any way. We work for the Lord alone and will be repaid by him alone.

**No Time to Waste*

        Whether you are young or old, there is no time to waste. Our lifetime is limited and every moment counts. You live it either with or without God. 

*****When Life Becomes a Tragedy*****

        Again, here's the quotation by Léon Bloy, the French Catholic writer: "The only real sadness, the only real failure, the only great tragedy in life, is not to become a saint." Let me say that the saying remains true if I were to replace the last part "is not to become a saint" with "is not to believe in Christ," "is not to seek union with God," "is not to abandon yourself totally in God," or "is not to love your God with all your heart, with all you mind, and with all your soul." 

*****About Christ the LORD

        It's so easy for us to dismiss Christ when we don't really know him yet. But once you know him well, you never want to leave him ever, for he is that beautiful! Advice: never rush to conclusions about Christ!

***Fighting Our Worst Enemy***

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 23, Jesus denunciated the scribes and Pharisees for exalting themselves instead of serving others. The ego was at play here. Our ego is our worst enemy, blocking us from ever becoming truly humble. Do you know that when we lose our ego, Satan loses all his power over us? To becoming egoless, just don't do anything that would make others think highly of you.