***Our Hope***

         Jesus is love, mercy, and joy. Today I see that he is our hope also; for without him, we'd be living in total darkness and possibly doomed for eternity! 

***Easy Come, Easy Go

         In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 10, Jesus sent out the Twelve to the lost sheep of the house of Israel to make the proclamation: "The kingdom of heaven is at hand." He also instructed them to cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse the lepers, and drive out demons, and added, "Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give." Indeed, we need to realize that all our things have come from the Lord and we are to give them freely if need be. This'll teach us not to get attached to the world but to remain free in the Lord.

**Most Beautiful Life goal**

         Today is the memorial of St. Benedict, abbot. The entrance antiphon at Mass: There was a man of venerable life, Benedict, blessed by grace and by name, who, leaving home and patrimony and desiring to please God alone, sought out the habit of holy living. "Desiring to please God alone"—what a beautiful goal for us to have! That'll make us all go to heaven! That would surely bring the greatest joy to all of heaven and earth! So let's live like St. Benedict to please God alone.

**Levels of Awakeness

         What is your life's end destination? If you are just living from day to day and haven't thought about it yet, you don't know what you're doing. If you see that your life will end one day and haven't done anything beyond, you are not better off. But if you have already looked beyond this life and had your eternal destination all secured thru Jesus Christ, then you are truly being wise and awake, knowing the whole truth about life. 

**Becoming Spiritually Whole Again

         Communion experience—another opportunity for the Lord to cleanse my heart and heal my soul.

**No Middle Ground*

         The Lord God waits for us to turn to and go after him. To not do so is to ignore him. These are our only two options. With the Lord, there's no middle ground to take—we'll be either saved or condemned. So be prepared now.

****God's Urgent Call Now*

         God's omnipotence and omniscience are indeed awesome, but the beauty of his love and sanctity alone should be enough to make us want to submit ourselves to him totally. He is the only one who can save us from sin and make us fit for entering heaven—this is the absolute truth! It is urgent that you wake up and drop everything now to follow Christ our God and Savior—there's no time to waste.

***Self-Struggle Is Wrong!***

          This morning I heard the tragic news that the spiritual director, a priest, of our parish priest had taken his own life five days ago on July 4. I do not know him nor what caused him to do such a thing. Anyway, I feel called to share the following thoughts, which may not apply in his case.
         A lot of people struggle hard to know God, then when they realize that they are not succeeding well, they give up and lose hope. The secret to know God is to let him know you. That means you go passive. I had said before that to log onto God, the password is "passive." By remaining open, you don't struggle at all. You simply relax and trust, letting the Lord "do the work." This is abandonment to God, the formula for rapid spiritual growth.

***Receiving Revelation from God***

        Throughout Church history, there have been private revelations purportedly coming from heaven. They all try to teach us something about God or warn us about something that's coming from him. Many of them are inspiring, while others more dubious or even controversial. Anyway, the Church doesn't bind us to believe in any of them, even if they've been approved. The thought that came to me this morning at Mass was that the Lord does give messages to every one of us privately for the good of all humanity, even if we're not saints or mystics. Such revelations don't have to sound supernatural to be authentic. Especially when you are in union with the Lord, the communication between you and him are completely free and unobstructed, and you hear him speaking to your heart at all times. 

****Moving God with Your Heart****

         Online I've read about the Divine Mercy devotion controversy, the best devotions, and whether we should say the Holy Spirit or the Holy Ghost. Well, I have learned that the Lord only looks at our hearts. He does not care about exactly how we approach him as long as we believe in him. It's not that a better devotion will work better. You can pray to God in all your own words and that's good enough if you really mean what you say. It's the devotion of your heart, not the devotion you follow that matters.

**Mixed Feelings After Communion

         I rejoiced after receiving the Lord, but I also felt great sorrow for him as so many of the world still offended him nonstop. And I felt like crying amidst my joy.  

***Simplifying Our Readiness*

        This is a time of great confusion for the Catholics. The Vatican has been consistently pronouncing teachings and taking actions to destroy old traditions, fracturing the Church in the process. It seems to me that the Pope is aiming for a one-world religion. Meanwhile false prophecies pervade the internet, all presented in clickbait fashion. In my view, they are as bad as the moneychangers in the temple that offended Jesus if not worse. My advice is that we focus upon Christ and his teachings alone and shut out all distractions. As long as we are with him, we are saved and don't need to be concerned about whatever comes.  

*****Letting God Unify or Divide Us*****

        Union with God through the Holy Eucharist is the most exalted form of relationship you can possibly achieve in your existence. In this state, you are also in union with all others in union with him the same way. On the other hand, reject God and you put yourself in the most estranged state you can possibly be in. Letting God be your greatest unifier or greatest divider—it's your choice.

***How to Praise God More

        In general, we don't praise God enough. We can praise him vocally, but that's somewhat limited, as there are only so many ways we can say it. We can remedy this by doing everything for his glory. The surely would be an excellent way of offering our praises. 

****Most Important Decision to Make

        In this sinful world, it's so easy to ignore God and lose your soul forever. But for those who have looked into Christ and chosen to give themselves to him, their souls are secured for all eternity. Now you decide what to do with yourself. 

***Accepting What's from God Only (a Challenge)***

        What comes to us are either from God or from the Evil One. In the former case, we get drawn closer to the Lord; in the latter, we get prompted to sin. Example of an evil influence: A pop singer garners legions of fans, but the music and performance are basically impure that they pull them away from God. The way to free ourselves of such influences is to discern them and cut them off early at the outset. Of course, in a secular society like ours, this hardly happen, especially among the impressionable younger generation. The best solution is to seek union with the Lord first, then you'll be strong enough to ward off all evil influences which to you now are all abhorrent. 

***The Christian Way

        If we are to love Gold with all our heart, we are to do everything from our heart. It follows that we are to think, speak, pray, love, and behave always from the heart. It means that a Christian is always genuine and trustworthy, reflecting God's glory. This way you live with a clear conscience in peace.

****A Most Beautiful Thing Is . . .

to trust in the truth wholeheartedly with zero doubt, and that truth is Jesus Christ to whom you can even entrust your soul..