"Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." (Matthew 5:48)

Tuesday, December 10, 2024

***What's Good Enough

        This is not a new message, but is worth hearing again. Being a real nice person is not good enough; having all your sins taken away and becoming holy is crucial.

*****Feeling the Lord***

        I really feel Christ today. I feel his presence, his tremendous love for us and his great sorrow for our ungratefulness. His joy is always with me, yet the burden on my heart is heavy. Knowing that he understands me thoroughly, I feel drawn closer to him more than ever. The bittersweet feeling gets sweeter.

Sunday, December 8, 2024

**Rejecting Salvation

         To be Saved by God is so simple—you only need to believe in Christ the Savior. But we foolishly think we are too smart for that—so pitiful! 

***Joy All the Way***

        The prophet Isaiah predicted that the Savior would come, and he indeed showed up two thousand years ago. It is time for us to rejoice and await his next coming. But if you seek union with him thru the Holy Eucharist, he'd come straight into your heart to dwell within you! More joy before entering heaven!

***Letting God Be Our Witness**

        In today's reading from Philippines 1, Paul writes, "God is my witness ..." What a powerful statement! God does see everything that's going on, exposed or hidden, and we must be aware of this so that we may live a life without blemish before him. 

***What Pleases God the Most***

        To serve and glorify God, you can sing in the church choir, compose hymns, help building a new church, volunteer in various ministries, pray extra hard, etc. But to please God the most, surrender yourself completely to him first.

Saturday, December 7, 2024

*****Greatest Invitations of Our Existence*****

        At each Mass, the priest in consecrating the bread and wine repeats what Jesus said at the Last Supper to his disciples: "TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND EAT OF IT: FOR THIS IS MY BODY WHICH WILL BE GIVEN UP FOR YOU" and "TAKE THIS, ALL OF YOU, AND DRINK FROM IT: FOR THIS IS THE CHALICE OF MY BLOOD, THE BLOOD OF THE NEW AND ETERNAL COVENANT, WHICH WILL BE POURED OUT FOR YOU AND FOR MANY FOR THE FORGIVENESS OF SINS. DO THIS IN MEMORY OF ME." These are the two greatest invitations of our whole existence! And when we accept them with open hearts, we give our greatest responses of our whole existence, for we now have eternal life! 

*****Rock Solid Reality*****

        Every moment you live without acknowledging Christ as your Savior is a moment you risk losing you soul forever! 

**Freely Receive, Freely Give*

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 9, Jesus sent out the Twelve to various towns and villages to proclaim the Kingdom of heaven at hand, cure the sick, raise the dead, cleanse lepers, and drive out demons. He said to them, "Without cost you have received; without cost you are to give." Indeed, all things we have come from the Lord as we own nothing. Therefore, we are to provide all things freely to those in need. 

Friday, December 6, 2024

***The Love that'll Judge Us***

        God loves us with a pure selfless love. Once we experience this love, we are inspired to love him and the world with the same love. And we'll be judged by how much this love we possess in us.

***To All Those Enslaved to Sin***

        The Devil loves to trick us into thinking that something that happens unexpectedly and gives us great pleasure must have come from God, even deep down you know that it's sinful. We are then thrown into a state of confusion and great turmoil. This should be a clear sign to you that it did not come from the Lord, but was perhaps allowed by him to test you. You should then turn to and seek refuge in him as soon as possible. In reality, it's easier said than done, and great tenacity is required to be set free again. Once free, you'll find yourself close to the Lord more than ever. 

***Time to Wake Up!*

        Today's entrance antiphon: Behold, the Lord will come with descending splendor to visit people with peace, and he will bestow on them eternal life. Look, all God wants is to save us from sin and give us eternal life! There can be no better newsBut many of us still do not pay any attention—are you saying that you have no sin at all? 

Thursday, December 5, 2024

***Best Attitude to Assume Before God***

        Be true and open, acknowledging your complete helplessness without him. Wonderful things will now happen.

*****Perfect Fulfillment*****

        Communion experience. Once you are with the Lord, you simply want to remain in him, not wanting to look ahead nor back at anything else anymore, for he is the perfect fulfillment. 

***On Forgiving Others and Selves**

        There is no one who's not worth forgiving. As long as we repent our sins, the Lord is ready to forgive us. Don't forget to forgive yourself too. No matter how sinful you are, you are worth being forgiven by the Lord, for his mercy is infinite. I know of someone who finds it impossible to forgive anyone who's done wrong, so he stops going to church because he wants to be honest with God and thinks that attending church would make him a hypocrite. What warped, dumb reasoning, as this is defying God and not believing that he can change us! The right attitude is to tell the Lord it's difficult but he's right, then ask for his help. Having the right intention is critical!

***Great Feeling*

  Knowing that I can totally entrust Christ with my soul!     

***There's Only One Lord***

        In toay's Gospel reading from Matthew 7, Jesus said to his disciples: "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the Kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father in heaven." Anytime we say "Lord Jesus," but do not follow God's will in all things, we are hypocrites.

**Course of Life

        We all live, die, and live or die again. The first death is just a quick transition. The second life or death will be final and forever. Make sure you end up with life.