***Our Peace*

         Two days ago, I declared that God is our hope. Today I'd like to add that God is also peace.

***The Lord Teaching Us

         In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 10, Jesus said to his Apostles, "Do not be afraid of those who kill the body but cannot kill the soul; rather, be afraid of the one who can destroy both soul and body in Gehenna." So if your soul is safe with the Lord, you should not be afraid of anything anymore! Who cares how or when you're going to die when you'll be with God forever? Jesus also said, "Everyone who acknowledges me before others I will acknowledge before my heavenly Father. But whoever denies me before others, I will deny before my heavenly Father." Now you know exactly how to get accepted by the heavenly Father. If you get denied by him later, you have only yourself to blame. The Lord is showing us how to be smart here!

***Resorting to Prayer Always*

         Prayer can be most powerful. In Mark 9, Jesus healed a boy possessed by a demon. When the disciples asked him why they could not drive it out, Jesus told them that this kind could only come out by prayer. So we should always resort to prayer. Whenever we wish to honor the Lord and don't have the means to accomplish that, we can turn to prayer. Coupled with deep faith, prayer is surely a Christian's best friend and weapon for fighting evil.

***Finding Rest in God***

         I have quoted this famous saying by St. Augustine quite a number of times in the past. It came to me again today. Here it is: "You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our heart is restless until it rests in you." First of all, this is absolutely true. Secondly, to rest in God is to submit yourself to him 100%, for If you fall short by even a tiny percentage, you'll still experience some unrest. But once you hit 100%, you'll taste peace and freedom and not want to fall short again.

***Minding Our Business Only***

         Since God alone is our judge, we should not ever judge others. It follows that we should not ever compare ourselves with anyone else either. Our only business should be to make sure that we pass God's judgment. 

***Lamentable State of the World

        The world is in total disorder. Just look at his country alone, evildoers spread lies and hatred, destroying the country and society in the process, in order to remain in power. The battle between the good and the evil has never been so clear. God has given each of us a conscience and these evil ones have already lost theirs. When you lose your conscience, you lose your soul as well. 

***Be Saints for God in Secret***

         We all should be saints for God's sake and known to him only. A true saint couldn't care less about being recognized, let alone venerated. We cannot love God and also ourselves (or the world).

***Joy-Filled Morning

         First, before morning Mass started, I felt the joy of just being aware of Christ's presence. Whenever I think of him, my heart is filled with joy. In today's reading from Psalm 51, the psalmist (David) asked God to cleanse him of sin so that he should be whiter than snow. Surely Christ could make me whiter than snow too—a joy for me. In the Gospel reading from Matthew 10, Jesus told his Apostles that in coming persecutions, the Spirit of their Father wouldl speak through them. It's clear that this Spirit is also mine, the Holy Spirit, who makes me see and guides me in the truth . . . my joy continued. Then when I received the Lord in the Eucharist, it reached a peak. All in all, a most memorable morning. 

***Discernment Called For*

         After Mass, I remained in prayer at the chapel. I noticed the reflections of the candle stand and other objects clearly in the shiny tiled floor of the sanctuary. These are virtual images like what you see in a mirror. The reflected objects do not exist; it's the light reflected fooling you into thinking that they are there. For example, I see myself in the mirror, but I don't really exist behind that mirror. This is how Satan fool us. He makes us see miracles to fool us into believing that they are from God. Someone could tell you that he's seen a vision or heard a message from heaven and he's telling the truth, but what he saw or heard might not be from God. So, be always discerning. If you don't need miracles to bolster your faith anymore, then leave them alone.

*****In Constant Communion with God*****

         It is essential that we communicate intimately with the Lord God unceasingly! For this is a wonderful way to maintain a vibrant close relationship with him. To neglect the Lord who is our most loving Father and creator has to be an abominable sin in my view. Seek full union with him thru the Holy Eucharist so that you may love him as you should.

**Communion Experience

         Receiving the Lord in the Holy Eucharist has to the topmost experience of my existence on earth above all other enjoyable experiences.

***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.