***Miracle of Abandonment to God***

        When you abandon yourself to the Lord, no matter how things turn out, you are happy.         

**Be like a Mirror*

         The Lord Christ alone is our shining light. The best we can do is to reflect his light for all to see. To do that like a mirror, we must be spotlessly clean. So surrender to him that he may make us clean. This is one best way for us to glorify him. 

***Ultimate Way of Following Christ***

        How do you follow Jesus? Do you follow him closely or from a distance just to make sure that he is in view? If you were really close to him, you'd be in union with him and carried by him the whole time! You now belong to him and there's no more following, so to speak. This is ultimately following the Lord, simply being with him and enjoying him.  

**Different Approaches

        When Satan wants you to remove your coat, he would most likely lure you with some kind of temptation to make you undress yourself, and you lose your pease. When the Lord God wants you to remove your coat, he would probably make the sun just warm enough to make you voluntarily take it off with no qualms.

****AMAZING LOVE****

        God's love is most beautiful because it's all pure and selfless. Once we sense that, we fall in love with the Lord. This is how he has made us. What's amazing is that when we love God, we become selfless and don't expect anything in return from him either! Loving him is our reward enough! 

*****Do-or-Die Time!*****

        Being sinners, we need to learn from the Lord as much as possible for the sake of our souls. In this secular world, we learns only secular things that do not benefit us spiritually at all; all the more we need the Lord to teach us so that we may keep our souls safe. This message is most urgent, for we are truly in a do-or-die situation!  

**False Freedom No Freedom

        We think that by being our own lords, we can be free. Then we find out that we become our own slaves and there's no way of freeing ourselves from sin. So the freedom we've been seeking is no freedom at all. This is where we need Christ, for he's the only one who can deliver us from sin. Once we're set free from sin, we are ready to inherit the kingdom of God our Father. Realize all this early to maximize our joy on earth and in heaven.   

***Who's at Fault?*

        Look at Jesus, he's all love, humble and meek, curing the sick, preaching the good news . . . yet many of us did not accept him then and still do not now. Who's at fault? Of course, it can't be the Lord, for he has done nothing wrong; both Herod and Pilate even agreed on that. So it is our foolishness that has made us reject him. I don't need to give all the reasons here because deep in our hearts we all know why. By accepting Christ, we can be set free, become holy, and go to heaven, but by rejecting him, we blow all that. We are at fault for sure.

***Heart Comes First***

        Offer your heart up to God to let him make it pure. Once your heart is pure, every thought, every word, and every act that come out of you will be pure too. Your joy will be great in remaining clean and pleasing to God!

***Food from Heaven

        Communion experience. The Holy Eucharist is our most desirable, most beneficial, most edifying, most satisfying, most essential, most precious, and most blessed and holy food. 

***Making the Soul Beautiful***

        Life on earth is a time for us perfect our love for God. The greater and purer that love, the more perfect our soul. Our time on earth provides numerous opportunities for us to make the soul beautiful for God to behold. Nothing can be happier than making our heavenly Father happy.  

**God's Timeless Counsels

        God is timeless, so are his counsels to us. They are basically principles for us to follow on earth and we'll be judged by how well we follow them.  

**Proper Interaction with God

        As creatures of God, we need to interact with God our creator. The best, most appropriate and most satisfying way for us to interact with him is to achieve union with him so that we may become like him, helping him create harmony in his kingdom, whether on earth or in heaven.

***How Christians Know the Truth***

        In today's Gospel reading from John 16, Jesus told his disciples that when the Spirit of truth comes, he would guide them to all truth. Now, I know that everything Jesus has said about himself and other things are all true, for he is the truth. How can I be so sure? My answer is that when the Lord (the Spirit) lets you know something, you just know that it's true, for he cannot lie and has the power to make you see the truth. This probably won't convince many unbelievers, but I can't prove it in any way besides my testimony. So with Christ, you either believe in him or you don't. Faith cannot be explained; it's a wonderful gift from God. And it really makes you love and appreciate the Lord.

***The LORD Is My Shepherd***

        David's Psalm 23 came to my mind. Verses 3 and 4 in particular portrayed how I felt. Here they are: "The LORD restores my soul. He guides me along right paths for the sake of his name. Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff comfort me."

***Spirit over Flesh

         Whatever you do, do not follow the flesh. Externally, you encounter temptations. Internally, your ego can surface. In both cases, do not succumb to the flesh. Follow the spirit means follow the Holy Spirit that dwells in you. If whatever you carry out gives you complete peace, you are following the Spirit. Know that God always sows peace, while Satan, unrest or turmoil.

***Simple Conclusion***

        Since our souls live on forever, we should care about only things that last forever, not things that pass or perish in time. Here is a perfect reason for following Christ, our Lord and our God.

****Unique Belief****

        Believing in Jesus is one of a kind; unlike other beliefs, it has serious consequences. Let me just list some of the positives ones: Your sins are forgiven; you are going to heaven; you no longer fear death; you are set free from the world; you can forgive all others and want to share the good news with them; you experience peace and joy; you never feel lonely anymore; you don't worry about anything and sleep well . . . There is not another belief that can help you achieve one of the above listed, and there's a lot more.