**Our Present Time Most Precious*

        Many people turn or return to God as they get old or in their final days, but the right time to do that is anytime you hear God calling. How much we receive from the Lord in our next life will depend upon how much we love him now, and certainly the more time we spend loving him, the greater will our reward be. So be sure to spend the time you have wisely, not squander any of it away.

***How to Get Lifted Up**

        Today is the Feast of Our Lady of Guadalupe. The Communion antiphon, Luke 1:52, reads "The Lord has cast down the mighty, and has lifted up the lowly." To be lowly is simple—you just forget about yourself and focus totally upon the mightiness of the Lord. And he'll lift you up high without fail!

***Signs the Spirit Dwells in You

        Once way back as a Catholic, I wondered how I'd know that the Holy Spirit actually dwelled in me as I'd been told. Now I know. You don't have to witness any miracle or speak in tongues to know that. Here are some of the signs showing that the Holy Spirit is actively working in you, in no particular order: You fall in love with the Lord or Christ, yearn for him, are fired up for spreading the gospel, are willing to suffer for him, seek humility, feel his presence at all times, love to pray or reveal everything in your heart to him, love to call God Father, don't judge but forgive everyone, loathe sinning, yearn to receive the Holy Eucharist, and surrender yourself to him with great joy.

***Time to Act Decisively*

        Lying down on my bed this morning, I was doing my daily eye drops on my right eye. Since I've been advised to wait at lease 5 minutes between drops, I turned on the classical radio station to see what's being played. It was the hour of film music. I must say that some of the composers had written some most beautiful memorable music. My days of being a music aficionado surfaced in my mind. I remembered how hooked I was on searching for new composers, new music, and new record labels. This went on continuously. One day I finally realized that I must free myself from this enslavement and I did it cold turkey. Afterwards I experienced great freedom. My thoughts are in life, there are times we need to act decisively to change or correct our course for our own good. To continue living and not paying any attention to where we're headed will surely not end well.

**Jesus Our Rest*

         In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 11, Jesus said to the crowds: "Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened, and I will give you rest." Whether we labor for ourselves or God and feel burdened, we need to go to him to find rest. Mark my words, you'll only find true rest now and forever in him, for he is our creator and has made us that way. When we rest in him, all our problems become his and we experience true peace.

**Perfect Fit Experience.

        Communion experience. Uniting with the Lord can be likened to a jigsaw puzzle piece being snapped right into its place, forming a perfect fit.

***Most Divergent Ways***

      We can reject the greatest love of the God of Christ for us and get cut off from him forever or we can open ourselves wide to accept this love wholeheartedly and be made ready to enter heaven forever. There are no two paths more divergent. All it takes is a change of heart now to get on the better one.

**Feel More for God than Ourselves*

        In today's Gospel reading from Matthew 18, Jesus told his disciples that it's not the will of their heavenly Father that one of the little ones be lost. So every soul is precious to God the Father. We feel sorry for ourselves after we commit a sin; we really should realize first that we grieve God greatly when we sin. Feeling this sorrow of his will definitely help us sin less and become holier over time.

***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.

**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.

*****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. 

***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.