**Becoming Strong when You're Weak

      As we age, we increasingly sense our physical weakness. Why not take advantage of that? Anytime we feel weak physically, mentally, or in any other aspect, see it as an opportunity for us to rely on the Lord even more so as to become strong spiritually. What could be better than growing holier and older at the same time?

*****A Serious Warning!*****

        The Church is the body of Christ. Breaking up the Church is a most grave sin, and that's happening right now. The Magisterium has so far caused much confusion and sown discord among the faithful. Satan has infiltrated the Church for some time and is now working harder than ever to destroy her. But the Lord is not going to let that happen. Still, things could worsen before that get better. We are in some sort of end times for sure. We need to pray harder than ever with so many souls at stake. It's commitment time!

***No Limit to What We Can Accomplish!*

         The Lord God is infinitely powerful and we have instant access to him. So do not limit him nor ourselves. There is so much we can accomplish in glorifying him in this life! Start out by letting him make you holy.

***Happy with Myself

         Communion experience. I was happy that the Lord could perfect me. This made me happy with myself. 

***Call to Conscience***

        Do you realize that God has already done his utmost for us? He has sacrificed his only divine Son so that we may have eternal life, revealing that he loves us as much as he loves his own Son. This news is so incredibly good as to be shocking! The ball is now in our court—are we just going to play dead and not reciprocate at all? 

***How God Converts Us

        God respects our free will. He wants to converts us, but he never strong-arms us in any way. When Paul was persecuting Christians, the Lord simply called him to ask him why in a quite gentle way, and Paul was converted. So he does convert us by creating circumstances or events to make us willingly consent to what he asks of us. Just don't harden your hearts.

***The Reality Not All See*

        Looking at both the good and horribly bad things that are happening in our homes, schools, churches, cities, companies, industries, our government . . . and around the world, it is clear that what we witness results from the spiritual warfare between God and the Evil One. Not everyone sees this, just as not everyone believes in Christ. Blessed are those who see the reality, for they've been chosen by God to inherit his kingdom.

***Worst and Best for Us

        Communion time thoughts. The worst thing that could happen to your soul is that you are possessed by an evil spirit. By the same token, the best thing that could happen to your soul is that you totally belong to the Holy God.  

***Never Look Back***

        When we follow Christ, we must not book back. Don't waste time dwelling on the past regretting you should or shouldn't have done something or lamenting that you missed some big opportunity. Let bygones be bygones. If you have sinned, confess your sins and get them absolved, and move on—they no longer follow you. And let nothing hold you back in following the Lord. Look forward only to the very best that's to come. A reluctant Christian risks losing the Lord altogether in the end.

*****How to Have Faith***

        In my last post, you see how faith works wonders. But how do we acquiure faith? "Surrender" is the key. When we surrender to God, faith is born. As we experience wonders, we willingly surrender to him more and our faith grows. This is the exciting part of following Christ. When we realize that there's no limit to how far we can progress this way, it becomes even more exciting!

***LORD Eager to Forgive (Our Only God)***

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 5, Jesus healed a paralytic. Some men brought on a stretcher a man who was paralyzed, trying to see Jesus. Not finding a way to bring him in because of the crowd, they went up on the roof and lowered him on the stretcher through the tiles into the middle in front of Jesus. When Jesus saw their faith, he said, "As for you, your sins are forgiven." We see that the moment you have faith, the Lord is ready to forgive you! This is how eager he is to forgive us. Then the scribes and Pharisees began to ask themselves, "Who but God alone can forgive sins?" Jesus knew their thoughts and said in reply, "What are you thinking in your hearts? Which is easier, to say, 'Your sins are forgiven,' or to say, 'Rise and walk'? But that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on earth to forgive sins"– he said to the paralytic, "I say to you, rise, pick up your stretcher, and go home." He stood up immediately, picked up what he had been lying on, and went home, glorifying God. The Lord spoke as God here. Come to think of it, there's no one else who can forgive our sins, for there's only one true God, the God of Christ.

**Christian = Fearless*

        One thing we may not notice but need to know—it is that Christ Jesus can banish all our fears. You become fearless when you know that the almighty God is with you always. You are now truly free, aware that nothing can bind your spirit anymore! 

***Most Necessary for Us to Know

        Nothing is impossible with God and that includes removing our sins so that we can get into heaven. This is super important for us to know and believe in.

***Connecting Properly with the Lord

        How well are you connected with God? Loosely or most intimately? We must be more than lukewarm to receive any benefit. Anyway, with the Lord God, the only proper way to connect with him is to go all out and all the way; for he is most holy, most loving, and most trustworthy, and our calling is to become like him. Again, I advocate seeking to attain union with him. The Holy Eucharist is our greatest aid in  helping us complete that process.  

**We Are on Our Own*

        Each of us is responsible for our own actions. At judgment time, we'll be alone with the Lord. Every thought we entertain, every word we utter, and every deed we perform will help to shape our case. So in the limited time we have, it is most important that we use our time wisely and not squander any of it away. If you can be happy for all eternity, whether the world recognizes or appreciates you is just about irrelevant.

*****Most Directed Words (Power of the Eucharist)***

        At the Last Supper on the day before Jesus was to suffer, he took bread, said the blessing, broke it, and gave it to his disciples, saying, "Take this, all of you, and eat of it: for this is my body which will be given up for you." Then he took a cup, gave thanks, and gave it to them, saying, "Drink from it, all of you, for this is my blood of the covenant, which will be poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins." These words of the Lord are like arrows aimed directly at our hearts. Let them penetrate our hearts so that we may belong to him forever!

***Our sole Concern

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew10, Jesus sent out the Twelve, instructing them thus, "Go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel. As you go, make this proclamation: 'The Kingdom of heaven is at hand.' Cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, drive out demons. Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give." That last statement I italicized gave me the following thoughts. We don't need to ask God for anything for ourselves. labor for him and we'll surely receive the best from him. We don't need to expect being rewarded either, for rewards shall surely come. Our sole concern is then serving the Lord without cost.

***Humbled and Exalted

        Communion experience. The Lord made me see that I was nothing before him, yet he treated me as the apple of his eye. He humbled and exalted me at the same time.