***Our Only Mission**

        In today's first reading from Acts 4, the leaders, elders, and scribes ordered Peter and John not to speak or teach at all in the name of Jesus. Peter and John, however, said to them in reply, “Whether it is right in the sight of God for us to obey you rather than God, you be the judges. It is impossible for us not to speak about what we have seen and heard.” Yes, it is impossible for us whom Jesus has called to follow him not to speak about him! God has commissioned us to spread the good news to the whole world so that all may be saved. This basically is our sole mission. It is in carrying out this mission that we are fulfilled!

***Transformative Love*

        Communion experience. If you truly believe that Jesus is pure love and receive him with reverence and all your heart, you'll never be the same old sinner again.

**Jesus Speaking as God*

        In today's Gospel reading from John 21, the resurrected Lord standing on the shore of the Sea of Tiberias saw Peter, John, Thomas, Nathanael, and some other disciples in their fishing boat and called out to them, "Children, have you caught anything to eat?" All the disciples were probably not that much younger than Jesus, yet he called them children. At the wedding of Cana, Jesus addressed his mother as "woman." I see that Jess was clearly speaking as Lord and God!

***Connecting with God*

        When we pray to God, we are most effective when we really mean what we say from the heart. In other words, we need to be completely open and receptive to the Lord. Then the Holy Spirit can come and touch your heart and you'll know it! I've found that a good time is when I am awake in the middle of the night or early in the morning when everything is still quiet and you could feel the Lord's presence. It's the perfect time to pour your heart out to him to make that most personal connection.

**Great Consolation**

        In today's Gospel reading from Luke 24, Jesus, before he ascended into heaven, startled his disciples by suddenly appearing in their midst to show them that he was a real person with flesh and bones and was the Christ to fulfill everything written about him in the law of Moses and in the prophets and psalms. I just intuitively know that we have a Lord who knows everything about anything as well as what is going on in all our hearts. It is a great consolation to place ourselves under his care and know that we won't ever be lost again.

***Jesus the Author of Life!***

        In today's first reading from Acts 11 is this verse: The author of life you put to death, but God raised him from the dead. Jesus is the life, so is he the author of life. Without him, there would no life of any kind. As the author of life, it is impossible for him to ever die—this explains his resurrection. He lives forever, and best of all for us, he can make us live forever too!

***POWER OF LOVE***

        Today's first reading at Mass was about the cure of a crippled beggar from Acts 3. Peter and John were going up to the temple area. A man crippled from birth was carried and placed at the gate of the temple to beg for alms from the people who entered the temple. When he saw Peter and John about to go into the temple, he asked for alms. But Peter looked intently at him, as did John, and said, "I have neither silver nor gold, but what I do have I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ the Nazorean, rise and walk." Then Peter took him by the right hand and raised him up, and immediately his feet and ankles grew strong. He leaped up, stood, and walked around, and went into the temple with them, walking and jumping and praising God. What Peter said above moved me to tears, for in the name of Jesus Christ, we can make the impossible possible! 

**Right and Wrong Attitudes**

        If you think you are a pretty good person and don't try to be better, you may have troubling getting into heaven for not wanting to become perfect. On the other hand, if you always see yourself as falling short of loving God enough and "strive" to grow holier, you have an excellent chance of getting into heaven. Pride and humility make all the difference.      

**Do You Know What Your Are Doing?*

        People love to say "I know what I am doing." Then something unexpected happens and they are no longer in control. The right attitude is to trust in God and say to him, "Lord, I place myself totally in your hands, so guide me and protect me from all evil." 

***Pride Our Worst Enemy

        Jesus being God is forever present. To live as if he doesn't even exist is being absolutely absurd and stupid!  Pride can surely ruin our conscience now and our soul later. 

***To Know the Lord Without Seeing***

        In today's Gospel reading from John 20, Jesus appeared to Mary of Magdala and she believed that he had indeed risen. She went and announced to the disciples, "I have seen the Lord." Now we already know that he is risen. To know him, we only need to be open to him and he'll come and reveal himself to us. Then we can  proclaim "I now know the Lord." 

****One We Must Know*

        If we could be made aware of our sinful state and the fact that if we do not repent and change our ways, we'd be heading straight toward hell, then we'd realize our dire need of Jesus our Savior. We can pretty much ignore everything else, but not him, for only he can save us from sin and show us the way to live right and gain eternal life!

**Peace Completed

        Communion experience. The Lord completes my peace.

**To Please ≠ to Love**

        To please someone is not the same as to love someone. If you try to please someone without love, then you motive is not pure. But if you love someone with no concern about whether that person will be pleased or not, your love is pure. Usually, you want to please God because you love him. Wishing to please God alone and not yourself is a noteworthy virtue! The trouble with today's world is that too many people are so eager to please others with ulterior motives that they forget all about pleasing God.

***Smart Move to Make Now***

        Pope Francis has just died after his bout with pneumonia. May he rest in peace! It just shows that you can be the most powerful, the most wealthy, the most famous, the most admired, or the most popular person in the whole world and still die, face the Lord God, and end up doing whatever he wants you to do. So the smart thing to do is to do God's will always now so that after you die, you'll not have to do anything that goes against your will.

**How to Initiate Knowing God*

        The best approach is to go directly to him and talk to him humbly from your heart that's completely open to him. Otherwise, your pride can easily get in the way to impede any progress. 

***Learning to Abandon Ourselves to God***

        We always have those we love and pray hard for, yet they remain hardhearted and unbelieving. Perhaps we should become more detached from them and trust in God even more. When God tested Abraham's faith and obedience by asking him to offer his son Isaac as a burnt offering, he actually started carrying it out without hesitation—that was absolutely amazing and inspiring! I think his example can help us abandon ourselves totally to God, knowing that he tests those who love him and will always come through.

***What Not to Put Off

        You can put off doing many things and it's not going to matter much, but you should never put off doing God's will. So get to know him well so that you my know and follow his will. True living is all about learning to let God be your Lord, thus setting you free from yourself.