*****Our Foremost Concern Now*

        Today is the the memorial of Saints Martha, Mary, and Lazarus. In the Gospel reading from John 11, Jesus told Martha, "I am the resurrection and the life; whoever believes in me, even if he dies, will live, and anyone who lives and believe in me will never die. Do you believe this?" She said to him, "Yes, Lord. I have come to believe that you are the Christ, the Son of God, the one who is coming into the world." Here Jesus made a bold proclamation and Martha gave a bold response. Because Jesus always speaks with great authority, he deserves our complete trust and obedience. In fact, since believing in Jesus determines that we'll live forever, that should be absolutely our foremost concern in this life!

**God's Mercy vs. Our Stupidity**

         The Lord God is most merciful. He waits patiently for us to surrender ourselves to him so that we may be saved. If we ignore him our whole life, then we simply get ourselves condemned in the end, which is the stupidest thing we can possibly do. I believe that in the following video, the Lord did give a nice sign to those who have offended him badly. The ball is now in their court. Pray that they will come to their senses before it's too late.

**The Lord's Humility

        In today's Gospel reading from John 6, Jesus multiplied five barley loaves and two fish to feed a crowd of five thousand. After they had their fill, Jesus knew that they were going to come and carry him off to make him king, so he withdrew to the mountain alone. Here's the Lord showing his humility we can all emulate.. 

***The Big Picture

        The Lord showed me that we need to look at the big picture and focus on the important issues and not so much on our trivial problems, as we approach our judgment day. (1) Fundamental issues we should always focus on: conversion of all sinners of the world; God crushing all evil ... (2) Current pressing issues: purification and restoration of the Holy Church; saving this nation as a republic; ending abortion ... (3) More immediate concerns: mercy on those performers who mocked Jesus and Christianity at the blasphemous opening ceremony of the Paris Olympics; healing of a parishioner friend suffering badly at a hospital; safe return of some family members traveling away from home ... (4) Trivial problems: water leaking from a bathroom ceiling at home (cause unknown); some plants dying in this hot weather ... You get the picture.

**How to Be Truly Strong

        We all want to be strong, but if you try to do it on your own, then you are going about it the wrong way. The right way is to be weak before the Lord to let him make you strong. Now you derive all your strength from him and become super strong. A Christian who lives in the Lord is alway backed by him in everything he does.  

**It's so important that . . .**

our connection with the Lord God be completely open, most intimate, and absolutely secure. 

**Questions

        If we don't stop sinning, then we are doomed. This totally makes sense and I believe that most people would agree to that. Yet not many of them take it seriously—what gives? Are they simply asleep?

**Natural Consequences**

        If we love God, we become like him and beautiful. And if we hate God, we become like the Devil and ugly. Every cause has its effect. 

***A Reminder

        To not do anything bad is not good enough, for we must do as much good as possible. How else are we going to love the Lord with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind?

***Good-Eniugh Warning for Us***

        Our final judgment by the Lord is imminent. It'll happen either after we die or at the Second Coming. This alone should make us want to live a holy life as best we can.

***How to Follow Christ (and Enjoy Peace)***

         To follow the Lord mean we always follow his will and never rush ahead of him. All glory and honor should go only to him. If the world ever notices us, it should see him and not us. With us out of the limelight, we simply enjoy his peace.

*****Incredible Love and Power of Christ*****

        Communion experience. It's like attending a banquet in heaven and was served the Lord himself—an unbelievable experience! You cannot remain the same old sinner anymore; in fact, you can now become a brand new saint! Praised be Jesus Christ, our most beloved Lord and God.

**How Do We Receive God's Word?*

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 13, Jesus told the parable of the sower to his disciples. He likened us hearing the word of the kingdom to the ground receiving the sower'e seed. The seed could be sown on the path, on rocky ground, among thorns, or on rich soil. I think the case of the seed sown among thorns best describes most of us today. This is the one who hears the word, but then worldly anxiety and the lure of riches choke the word and it bears no fruit. Pray that we are like the seed sown on rich soil, the one who hears the word and understands it, who indeed bears fruit and yields a hundred or sixty or thirtyfold.

***Inspiring Wake-Up Speech***

        Here's a clip of Bishop Barron's talk at this year's 10th National Eucharistic Congress which just concluded four days ago in Indianapolis, Indiana.

***Jesus Is LORD Because . . .

he can take away our sins.

***Baseless Fear***

        It is common that we follow Christ, but do not abandon ourselves completely to him for fear that he may make us do things against our will. Let me first say that this fear is totally baseless. You see, the Lord understands us thoroughly and knows how we can best serve him, so he would never make us do anything that is beyond our readiness or capability. He prefers that we offer to serve him first. Now, when we don't abandon ourselves all the way, it's because we still don't want him to be our Lord fully yet. This is due to our lack of humility. Let's recall what Jesus said in Luke 9:62: No one who sets a hand to the plow and looks to what was left behind is fit for the kingdom of God. To follow Christ is to follow him only and not yourself!

***Heaven More Real than Earth

         We live in a real world, but I now see that heaven is even more real because up there with the Lord God, you'll see the whole truth clearly with your life on earth looking more like an old bad dream. To return to the loving Father in heaven is to wake up and leave all your nightmares behind forever!

***The Lord Knew Us All Along!***

        In today's reading 1 from Jeremiah 1, the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah: "Before I formed you in the womb I knew you, before you were born I dedicated you, a prophet to the nations I appointed you." We are the same to the Lord: He knew us before we were born and had a plan for each of us to follow. Our role may not be as distinct as Jeremiah's, but nevertheless, it should become as meaningful to him if we followed his plan. Realizing this alone should make us feel blessed and want to rejoice in the Lord.