Today's entrance antiphon: O chosen people, proclaim the mighty works of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light, alleluia. I see clearly that I was in darkness before I found Christ, but today I am basking in his wonderful light. Without Christ, we are just lost; with him, eternal life is assured. It doesn't get any simpler.
Saturday, April 13, 2024
Friday, April 12, 2024
*To Discern God's Thoughts*
In Matthew 16, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised. Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him,"God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you." He turned and said to Peter, "Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do." We probably would have responded like Peter, but the Lord felt differently. This makes me realize that what we mean well may not be from God. Whatever we think, say, or do is from either God or Satan. So we must discern God's thoughts as best we can and respond accordingly. The only way to know God's thoughts is to know him as well as possible, and seeking to attain union with God is the way to go.
**Yielding to Love
Communion experience. It's all about love, so I just let the Lord fill my heart with his love.
***God Knows What to do
Today's Gospel reading from John 6 is on the multiplication of loaves. When Jesus saw that a large crowd was coming to him, he said to Philip, "Where can we buy enough food for them to eat?" He said this to test him, because he himself knew that he was going to multiply some loaves and fish miraculously to feed the crowd. Indeed, the Lord always knows what he's going to do. So when he tests us, we should not question him, but respond to him with faith.
***To Fear God or Not***
When we say we should fear God, we are not talking about being scared of him. We fear him so that we might not hurt him! This fear makes us want to be holy and not ever sin against him. So it's a holy fear. On the other hand, we can say that we don't need to fear God at all, for he loves us so much and will save us from eternal death if we believe in him. Once you know the Lord well, all your fears vanish, for he is now your most beloved and will shield you from all evil.
*****Important Obligation*****
To be holy is an obligation, for God is to be thanked for wanting to save us. If you choose not to become holy, you risk losing your soul. It should be clear to anyone that I am stating a most serious truth here.
***Power of God's Love***
In today's first reading from Acts 5, the high priest and his companions had the Apostles flogged, ordered them to stop speaking in the name of Jesus, and dismissed them. They left, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name. They continued teaching and proclaiming the Christ, Jesus. This is amazing, for no one would normally rejoice about suffering dishonor for whatever reason. Christ is truly amazing that he can turn all our sufferings into pure joy! It's the power of God's love at work here, transforming us fundamentally.
***Our Highest Attainment***
To be on intimate terms with the Lord God, we must be completely open to him to the point of sharing all our thoughts with him, praying to him whenever we can, seeking his guidance in all that we do, and being aware of his holy presence at all times. This state is reached when you attain union with God through the Holy Eucharist. Now you and the Lord dwell in and belong to each other.
*****What Matters Most to the Lord***
The Lord, of course, sees how much good we have done and are doing for his sake, but he made me see that more importantly, he cares about how obedient we are to him.
Thursday, April 11, 2024
***Preaching Just Christ***
Nowadays, most homilies we hear encourage us to love and trust in God. It would be more effective to preach just Christ instead. If we realize how beautiful, how holy, how powerful, and how merciful he is, we'll automatically want to love and live for him. This is in line with going to Christ directly to know him best. It is he alone who can make our lives exciting and joyful.
**Plain Reality**
In John 10:9, Jesus said, "I am the gate. Whoever enters through me will be saved . . ." It is only through Jesus that we get to see the Father. Enter through him and we are heaven bound. Stay away from him and no one can help you anymore.
**Rebirth Through Christ
In John 12:24, Jesus said to Andrew and Philip, "Unless a grain of wheat falls into the ground and dies, it remains just a grain of wheat; but if it dies, it produces much fruit, alleluia." Die in Christ and we are born anew, now living in and for him forever, alleluia.
Wednesday, April 10, 2024
*****God's Soft Spot*
Nothing will make our heavenly Father happier than telling him that we are sorry to have offended him. The moment we repent of our sins, he forgets all our wrongdoings and is ready to take us back to his bosom. Let us realize that he is infinitely merciful and most soft-hearted. To reject him and end up lost forever has to be the most foolish thing we can possibly do. If we get ourselves condemned, it's by our own doing.
*****Most Satisfying Feeling
Communion experience. It's impossible to describer the sublime satisfying feeling of receiving the body and blood of the Lord, so I'll just a list of a number of words or phrases that came to my mind: crowning moment, ultimate exaltation by the Lord, joy completed, final rest, total fulfillment, highest state of existence, exultation, exhilaration, freedom, reaching the summit, and of course, union with God.
*****Letting Christ Save Us*****
I heard from one of Bishop Mar Mari Emmanuel's talks that since we were born sinners, if we were left alone, we would all end up in hell. This makes sense to me. Of course, Christ came and completely altered our predicament. Today's Gospel reading from John 3 makes it all clear: God so loved the world that he gave his only-begotten Son, so that everyone who believes in him might not perish but might have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but that the world might be saved through him. Whoever believes in him will not be condemned, but whoever does not believe has already been condemned . . . Alleluia!
***Only One We Need***
Today I clearly see that the Lord God of Christ is the only one we can absolutely depend upon for our eternal existence. Without him, nothing would make any sense and everything fall apart, this I know.
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