***The Light of Christ

        Today's entrance antiphon: O chosen people, proclaim the mighty works of him who called you out of darkness into his wonderful light, alleluia.  When a sinner decides to follow Christ, he's leaving darkness to enter light. To not repent your sins is to remain lost in darkness. Jesus is our light, the only one who can deliver us from darkness! Nothing can possibly hide from him. Awake to his call so that you may enter to live in his light to remain clean, free, and content forever. 
           Here is the song The Light of Christ you might enjoy listening to:

**How to Go Home Justfied*

        In Luke 18, Jesus gave us the parable of the Pharisee and the tax collector. Both went to the temple area to pray. The Pharisee was convinced of his own righteousness and despised everyone else; he told God all the good deeds he'd been doing. But the tax collector simply beat his breast and prayed humbly, "O God, be merciful to me a sinner." Jesus pointed out that the latter went home justified, not the former. The lesson the Lord gave was "For everyone who exalts himself will be humbled, and the one who humbles himself will be exalted."         
         By the same token, if we see ourselves as great sinners before God in need of his mercy, we would be saved. But if we think we are really good people deserving to go to heaven, we would be greatly disappointed. As for those who fall between these two extremes, they could go either way. When the soul is at stake, always play it safe.

**Another Wake-up Call**

        A message good for today's youth to hear. 

**Peace from the Lord

         Communion experience. The peace I experienced after receiving the Lord was so restful that I could have remained in that state for a long, long time if I didn't have to get up from my kneeling position for Mass to continue. It was resting in the Holy Spirit all right.

****Our Eternity All Set!****

        Today's Gospel reading from John 14 is beautiful. Here's the entire reading: Jesus said to his disciples: “Do not let your hearts be troubled. You have faith in God; have faith also in me. In my Father’s house there are many dwelling places. If there were not, would I have told you that I am going to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come back again and take you to myself, so that where I am you also may be. Where I am going you know the way.” Thomas said to him, “Master, we do not know where you are going; how can we know the way?” Jesus said to him, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.” The Lord wants us to be where he is—rejoice! He is the way, the truth, and the life! Thru him we are with the Father forever—again rejoice!

****Determining Our Eternal Future****

        The Lord God watches over us and tries to influence us. He does not directly control us in any way, leaving our free will alone. This way any faith born becomes meaningful and precious to us. So it's how we respond to the Lord God that determines our eternal future. The world, we see and hear constantly. If we don't pause and turn to the God of Christ for illumination and guidance from time to time, we'd be doomed. On the other hand, should we choose to follow God for good, we'd be freed from the clutches of the world and heading for heaven. Today I realize that I am totally dependent upon God every instant of my existence, so I'm going to remain with him every instant of my existence.

***Our Love for Christ***

        Communion experience. My joy is great. I see that my love for the Lord is like his love, also pure and unconditional—I just love him without expecting anything in return.

***Serious Conditions

        Today is the Feast of St. Mark, evangelist. In the Gospel reading from Mark, Jesus appeared to the Eleven and said to them: "Go into the whole world and proclaim the Gospel to every creature. Whoever believes and is baptized will be saved; whoever does not believe will be condemned." We must not take these words lightly, for the conditions of being saved or not are definitive. 

***How to Receive Power from on High

        Just obey the Lord and he will empower you. Be weak and humble and he'll make you strong.

***Jesus All Peace and Joy

         Before Mass started today, I shared all my thoughts with the Lord from my heart and put myself completely in his hands. He was with me and I knew that I'd be going home to him. Great joy and peace pervaded me!

**A Problem of Conscience*

         To see if some belief or deed is good or not, it becomes clear when we look at the outcome if everyone believed like that or did that deed. For example, if we believed that we must always come first or have no mercy on anyone we think is bad, the world would have its people all at war with one another. Then if we all remained humble and selfless, we'd have instant peace worldwide. Sometimes we think that doing something minor but not quite right is OK. But if magnified, we'd see that it's not OK. So we need to see sin as God sees it. Know the Lord intimately to develop a super sharp conscience is the way to go.  

***God at Our Service!***

        If you don't have peace in your heart, it's because you're still carrying your sins. Let Christ unburden you by making you clean, and you'll be filled with peace and joy. In a way, our sanctity on earth, our salvation, our eternal destiny . . . are all up to us, for the Lord is ever ready to make all the good things we desire happen the moment we give him the permission. He is at our service! It'd be most unkind and foolish for us not to cooperate with him. 

***The World-Asleep Warning***

         The world has become so godless that the average conscience of its population has gotten so muddy or dull that it can no longer discern good and evil clearly. As a result, sinful practices and influences have been accepted or tolerated. Guilty feelings are easily suppressed or cast aside. When we no longer live for God, we are already following Satan!  Again, as in Biblical times, we are in a state totally unprepared for God's impending chastisement or judgment. I am not any doomsayer, only a clearheaded follower of Christ the Lord.

**Christ Is Not Our Enemy!**

        In today's Gospel reading from John 10, Jesus said to the crowd, "If anyone hears my words and does not observe them, I do not condemn him, for I did not come to condemn the world but to save the world. Whoever rejects me and does not accept my words has something to judge him: the word that I spoke, it will condemn him on the last day . . ." The Lord didn't come to condemn us but to save us. If we get condemned, it's by our own choice. He is our Savior! If he makes us feel uncomfortable, that's because we need him! So it'd be a huge wrong and total injustice to treat him as if he were our enemy.

**Total Fulfillment*

         To surrender yourself to God is to open yourself up to him so that he and you may become one, as in union. The more you surrender yourself, the more goodies you receive from the Lord. Once you attain union with him, you are always filled to the brim. To me this is total fulfillment.

**Are We Jesus' Sheep?

         In today's Gospel reading from John 10, Jesus said to the Jews, "My sheep hear my voice; I know them, and they follow me. I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish." We may consider ourselves Christians, but if we don't always do the Lord's will, or don't think about or pray to him much, we can hardly be considered his sheep. And eternal life is no longer assured for us either.

**A Great Reminder to All**

         Each of us is a unique being created by God the Father in his own image and is greatly loved by him. So let us rejoice and never judge another fellow being again. To thank the Father, let his love reign in our hearts. We'll now have heaven on earth! Amen.

***God's Love Most Overwhelming!***

         Again on this day of praying the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary, we see how Christ carried out his greatest act of love by dying in our place on the cross. The sufferings he underwent were unbearable even to think about. But what really amazes me today is how the Lord so willingly went thru the whole thing in following the will of God the Father. God's love now even overshadows his action.