God has always loved us. He made us in his image so that we can get to know him. He keeps us alive on earth and provides us with what we need to remain alive. Most of all, he has shown us how to gain eternal life. Yet so many of us who know that we sin and mess up the world still do not accept Christ as our Savior! It's hard to believe that our consciences have become so dull and our hearts so hardened that we no longer care about seeking the truth anymore—a most sad state indeed!
Wednesday, August 7, 2024
Tuesday, August 6, 2024
***Through Christ Alone (Warning)***
No one can get to the Father in heaven except through Christ, not Buddha, Mohammad, or any other spiritual leader. For he alone is God and the way. Also, he'll be our only judge in the end. Christ is King of kings and Lord of lords (Revelation 17:14 and 19:16). Know this truth now for your good.
***Become like the Lord*
Today is the feast of the Transfiguration of the Lord. Jesus took Peter, James, and John, and led them up a high mountain. And he was transfigured before them, his clothes becoming dazzling white. Elijah appeared to them along with Moses, and they conversed with Jesus. Then Peter said to Jesus, "Rabbi, it is good that we are here! Let us make three tents: one for you, one for Moses, and one for Elijah." He hardly knew what to say, as they were terrified.
We all say something that first comes to our mind when we don't know what to say or in any other situation. And I realize that we should always say what the Lord wants us to say. Now, this will happen only if we become like him. So through the Holy Eucharist, let's seek to attain union the him so as to achieve this goal. And we'll be living an inspired and exciting life.
***God for All Eternity***
My single first thought today was that the Lord God I believe in is an everlasting God. That means I can trust in him in all things and he will take care of me for ever. There is nothing I lack.
Monday, August 5, 2024
***Putting Faith to Work***
In Matthew 8, a centurion asked Jesus to heal his servant who was lying at home paralyzed, suffering dreadfully. When Jesus was ready to go and cure him, the centurion said to him, "Lord, I am not worthy to have you enter under my roof; only say the word and my servant will be healed." Jesus was amazed by his faith and healed the servant. Now at Mass before we receive Holy Communion, we say, "Lord, I am not worthy to receive you, but only say the word, and I shall be healed." I am sure we can also confidently say at any time, "Lord, I am not worthy to come into your holy presence; only say the word and I shall be made holy."
**Strong Faith Needed*
A strong faith in God remains steadfast, unaffected by any ongoing disorder or confusion in the world as well the Church. One with such a faith always thanks the Lord for his generosity and mercy, so he does not complain about anything. I'd like to thank God specifically for this. Decades ago, I had a blockage in a rein in my left eye, causing the the center of its vision to go blurry, and I had to rely on my right eye mostly for seeing. Time passed and the blurry vision started to clear up unexpectedly at an imperceptible pace and is almost completely well now. It so happened recently that the vision of my right eye became slightly blurry overall due to glaucoma, so the roles of the two eyes have reversed. The bad has become good and the good gone bad—the Lord surely knows what he is doing.
**Disadvantages to Being a Christian?
Are there any? I know for sure that being one can turn people away from you or make them ridicule or even attack you. But these are hardly disadvantages, for a Christian sees whatever he receives from others on account of his faith as a badge of honor and rejoices in that. In fact, it's in times of persecution and suffering that he feels closest to the Lord, and is thankful for that. Life in Christ is upbeat always!
Sunday, August 4, 2024
***Holy Eucharist Encapsulated***
The Church just held a National Eucharistic Congress in Indiana last month. It was a glorious 5-day event with over 60,000 attendees. I thought this would be a good time to give a summary of what the Eucharist means fo me.
(1) The Eucharist is the true body and blood of our Lord Jesus Christ.
(2) It is the greatest gift from him—himself!
(3) Since the transubstantiation takes place most humbly, it is one greatest miracle.
(4) Receiving himself achieves physical union with him, but is also an invitation to spiritual union with him. If we say yes, we attain the highest level of union with God.
***Making Entering Heaven Easy***
In Matthew 7, Jesus said "Enter through the narrow gate; for the gate is wide and the road broad that leads to destruction, and those who enter through it are many. How narrow the gate and constricted the road that leads to life. And those who find it are few." Entering hell is super easy—just do whatever you want to do, while following the world. Entering heaven is super hard only if you don't know Jesus. For once you know him, that narrow gate virtually disappears and the road becomes wide and free, making entering heaven a sure thing. This is the good news about God's great love for us!
Saturday, August 3, 2024
**To Be Famous Now or Later**
This morning I lay in bed to do my eye drops for glaucoma. I turned on the bedside clock radio to see what's playing on the classical music station. It was to be Schubert's famous Trout Quintet. I learned that this masterpiece was composed in 1819 when Schubert was 22, and was not published until 1829, a year after his death. Like many other artists, he became better known and was appreciated more after his death. My thoughts are to become known in this life or afterwards should never be the concern of a Christian, for only God is to be glorified. So never mind what people think of you, but remain hidden in the Lord so as to enjoy your great intimacy with him.
***"Think No Evil" Best?
Scammers nowadays are rampant. It shows how evil has taken control of our societies. Do you know that when you buy a health supplement online, if you're not careful enough, you are likely to receive a fake product? One YouTuber tested 27 different brands of berberine he ordered from Amazon and found that three of them contain no berberine at all and only five of them 100% berberine. That's pretty shocking, for you can endanger people's health here! Of course, online scammers we encounter daily. Using credit cards to shop is a risk too. I wonder how God will judge a scammer who has stolen $10 from someone vs. one who has stolen a million dollars from others. Would they be guilty to the same degree? What if the $10 was taken from some really poor soul and the million from a multibillionaire? I don't know the answer. The solution is not to sin at all, then you won't have to think about such questions.
**Basic Law**
Fall deeply in love with God and you are filled with constant joy. So if you are not happy with life, you don't love God enough yet.
***Reversing Our Predicament***
Again, I'd like to make a blunt statement which some people may not want to hear, but I believe to be true: We are all sinners heading straight toward hell unless we do something about it. You see, I can't say that as sinners we are naturally heaven bound. Now, to reverse our situation, we only need to turn to Christ. His whole purpose of coming to us on earth was to save all future generations.
***Purpose & Power of the Eucharist***
(1) To unites you with the Lord spiritually so that you may become holy.
(2) To set your heart on fire so that you may assist the Lord in saving all souls.
Friday, August 2, 2024
***Balanced Approach to Prayer
We can ask God for favors once, believing that he will grant them and stop praying anymore, or we can pray persistently, concerned that God may not grant them to us. These are the two extreme examples. I believe that the best approach is to pray unceasingly but also believe firmly that the Lord will respond to us favorably, thus showing both our fervency and trust in him.
***Our Missing Piece***
Communion experience. Christ is exactly the one we need to make our existence meaningful and a joy, for he is the truth!
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