*****Important Message for the Rich***

        In Matthew 19, Jesus said to his disciples, "Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven. Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God." Now, one of gates into Jerusalem was named "The Eye of the Needle," and was quite small, since camels heavily loaded with goods would have to be unloaded to pass thru. If that were the eye of a needle Jesus had in mind, that would mean it's definitely possible for anyone rich to enter the kingdom of heaven, but he would have to unload all his possessions first. Anyway, all of us who are not poor should take this message seriously. If in practice we cannot unload all we have, we must at least become detached to it.

***Power of the Heart

         By choosing to submit yourself to Christ and follow his will, you are set free and become heaven bound—all done with a change of heart. 

**Exciting Following Christ*

         Communion experience. There's no limit to how deep you can enter union with the Lord, that is, no limit to how much you can love him. This is what makes following Christ exciting!

**Price/Reward Ratio Considered*

        When you follow Christ and become divorced from the world, there's a price to pay. But relative to the reward you'll be receiving, it's practically nothing. 

***Requisite for Discipleship

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 14, Jesus addressed the crowds, "If anyone comes to me without hating his father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters, and even his own life, he cannot be my disciple. Whoever does not carry his own cross and come after me cannot be my disciple." The Lord spoke as the Lord God here, measuring our discipleship by how wholeheartedly we follow him. It's perfectly logical and makes sense that we should follow him with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our mind.

**Making Our Love Great**

        We show our love for others by helping them financially and/or materially; while Christ, whose love for us is most pure, wishes to save our souls foremost. So if we love others but are not concerned about their souls, then our love is not great enough. 

*****You Ain't See Nothing Until . . .*

you know Christ. As we grow up in this world, we see and learn new things every day. We can see the whole world and earn high degrees in various fields at colleges and universities. Our knowledge and vision are constantly expanding and this can be exciting. Then one day we run into Jesus Christ and discover the reality and truth, and our understanding and perception change completely. We now see the world to be utter lost and boring, heading into self-destruction. Only God and heavenly things are now meaningful and exciting. This is enlightenment and progress, as we are set free from sin and become new creatures in Christ. Existence now is fantastic and life totally fulfilled.

***Perfecting the Union***

        Communion experience. When you receives the Lord in the Holy Eucharist, you absorb him physically totally. If spiritual union doesn't follow, you have received him in vain—it's the spiritual part that completes the union, making it perfect. That is, we receive him physically in order to achieve spiritual union with him.

**What's Your Excuse?**

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 14, Jesus told the parable of the great feast. A man gave a great dinner to which he invited many. When the time for the dinner came, he dispatched his servant to say to those invited, ‘Come, everything is now ready.’ But one by one, they all began to excuse themselves. Today Jesus invites all of us to dine in the kingdom of God, but many reject his invitation, giving various excuses. Could it be that they want to play God themselves? If you really believe that Jesus' intention is bad or that he is false, I can respect that. But if you are not being honest with yourself, then I can't really respect you.  

***Power of God's Peace*

        Communion experience. When you receive the peace only the Lord can give that surpasses all understanding, you are ready to go to him, dropping your worries and concerns about all things. Basically, you are ready to comply with whatever he wants you to do at any time.

***Loving God***

        At morning Mass today, I felt so grateful to the Lord for having loved and saved me that I willingly surrendered all of myself to him. When you let God make you feel good, you gladly want to make him feel good to feel even better. Loving God becomes natural and a joy.

***Goal of the Christian**

         He is to forget all about himself and focus upon glorifying Christ alone. He is then set free and heading straight to heaven! 

***Most Precious Special Gift

         Communion experience. Historically, humans have sought the elixir of life, hoping to live forever; but do you really want to live in a sinful world like ours forever? The Holy Eucharist is in an entirely different class, for it can actually bring us into union with God so that we end up enjoying heaven for all eternity!

***Instant Perfection

        We are measured by how much we are like the Lord. So if we can love others like how he loves all of us, we become perfect.

**Compensating Physical Weakness**

        Today's offertory antiphon came from Psalm 103; Bless the Lord, O my soul, and never forget all his benefits. And he shall renew your youth like the eagle's. The last saying made me realize that God can renew us spiritually! It is most appropriate that as we age and grow weaker physically, we can always ask the Lord to help us grow stronger in him spiritually!

***Great Simple Secret***

        Today's Gospel acclamation based upon John 14: Whoever loves me will keep my word, says the Lord, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our our dwelling with him. Here's the secret of making the Lord God come to dwell within us! Wow!

***God's Special Mercy

        Only God our Father is perfect, whereas we can never be. Fortunately for us, as long as all our intentions stem from love and we do our best to carry out his will, it is good enough for him.  

**Reminder

        We want God to wipe out all evil, yet we want God to save everyone, for he loves us all. So pray for all evildoers, not hate them.