**One Reason for Longing to Go to Christ

        When we follow Christ, our sins are taken care of by him. But we still need to remain vigilant as we still have the tendency to sin. This makes me long to go to him because there I'll be like him totally free of sin.

***The Unavoidable***

        In today's Gospel reading from John 6, Jesus said the following to the crowds: (1) "I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me will never hunger, and whoever believes in me will never thirst." (2) "Everything that the Father gives me will come to me, and I will not reject anyone who comes to me, because I came down from heaven not to do my own will but the will of the one who sent me. (3) "This is the will of the one who sent me, that I should not lose anything of what he gave me, but that I should raise it on the last day." Everything said here is pretty clear. Are you going to believe in Jesus or not? If not, can you prove that he's not telling the truth? We're put on the spot! To ignore him is just not the right thing to do. Facing God is unavoidable—it's best done when you are still alive now, not after you die! 

***Heavenly Experience on Earth***

        Communion experience. To be in union with Christ to be in heaven now.

***Great Mindset***

        From today's first reading from Acts 7, we read that as Stephen was being stoned to death before Saul, he called out, "Lord Jesus, receive my spirit." And today's response from Psalm 31 was "Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit." "This was exactly how Jesus cried out to the Father before he breathed his last on the cross. We should be ready to commend our spirit to the Lord at any time. In fact, this would be a great prayer to say each time before we do his will to show that we fully entrust ourselves to his care!

*****Tragic Ignorance***

        Attaining union with God through the Holy Eucharist is a humongous deal! It's the sinner turning a physical union with the real body and blood of the LORD into a spiritual union! It's the highest spiritual state God has made it possible for us to attain. Sadly, there are many who do not take this sacrament seriously and no genuine union takes place. It's like a fruit tree being fed the best nutrients and remaining fruitless.

***Most Perfect Union*

        Union with God is the most perfect of all unions, simply because it makes you holy to become like him. Moreover, it gets you into heaven.

***Sin No Longer Popular***

        We depend upon God for everything. In other words, we cannot survive one nanosecond without his support. Separated from him and we become nothing. Yet even Christians hardly think of or talk about him most of the time. I think it's because we're no longer aware of the consequences of sin. When was the last time you heard a sermon that condemned sins, urged us to repent, warned us about going to hell, or stressed the importance of saving souls? 

***Faith Awesome*

        In today's Gospel reading from John 21, Jesus appeared to his disciples after being raised from the dead for the third time. In the previous appearance to them when Thomas was present for the first time, he said to him, "Have you come to believe because you have seen me? Blessed are those who have not seen and have believed." Now, many of us today have not seen and have believed—it just makes our faith so much sweeter. Regardless, to have faith in Christ Jesus is just awesome, being absolutely the right thing for us to do!

*****One Greatest Gift from God*****

        Jesus' Divine Mercy is available to all. If we ask for that, we are saved forever. Without it, we are virtually hanging off the edge of a cliff, as far as our soul is concerned. This is a most precious gift from God no one with any sense should ignore! I am posting this message on behalf of the Lord who loves all of us with the greatest possible love ever! (Pray the Divine Mercy Chaplet if you can.)

***Curing Complaining

         Complaining about things shows that you are not happy with your existence. Get to know Christ, and he'll cure you and then some.

****The Very Best to Come***

        Waiting for going to heaven is waiting for the day to return to our most loving Father, become finally perfect ourselves, and start living the eternal life in bliss! (By the way, this is what God has always wished for all of us!)

***Jesus Challenging Us***

         Today is the Feast of Saints Philip and James, Apostles. Here are the first five verses of today's Gospel reading from John 14: Jesus said to Thomas, "I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you know me, then you will also know my Father. From now on you do know him and have seen him." Philip said to him, "Master, show us the Father, and that will be enough for us." Jesus said to him, "Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me, Philip? Whoever has seen me has seen the Father. How can you say, 'Show us the Father'? Do you not believe that I am in the Father and the Father is in me? The words that I speak to you I do not speak on my own.The Father who dwells in me is doing his works." Jesus really challenges us here, revealing to us that he and the Father are one. This can't be true unless he is God himself! His question to Philip "Have I been with you for so long a time and you still do not know me?" makes us who've been with him for some time wonder if we truly know him. I know we definitely do when we attain union with him and he becomes our Lord, God, and soulmate.

***Time to Choose Sides***

           The ongoing spiritual war Satan is waging against God is fierce and we need to choose sides. Any Christian who says "I trust in God" but does not take up arms in some way is only being lukewarm. If you love the Lord with all your heart, with all soul, and with all you strength, you cannot remain complacent at such a time like this. A bona fide Christian is basically a warrior at heart. 

**Imperfections Revealed

        Communion experience. The Lord is like a mirror that shows all my imperfections! I am very happy about this because it shows that he really cares about my spiritual wellbeing. 

*Whom to follow?*

        The Devil and the world lord it over us through deception and intimidation, while the holy Lord simply shows his love and the truth, letting us make up our own minds. I hope this difference will help you see clearly the one you should follow.

**A Great Honor**

        In today's reading 1 from Acts 5, the Sanhedrin had the Apostles flogged, ordered them to stop speaking in the name of Jesus, and dismissed them. So they left the Sanhedrin, rejoicing that they had been found worthy to suffer dishonor for the sake of the name. There is nothing wrong with their mental attitude, for I can totally understand rejoicing in suffering for the sake of Jesus. It's indeed a great honor to suffer dishonor for the Lord who loves us with the greatest love.

**Better Praying

        The Lord loves to hear prayers from our own hearts. There are some beautiful prayers out there we should definitely know, but there are also many prayers that are too wordy and hard to follow. I was handed a Prayer to St. Joseph the Worker this morning at church to be recited by all at the end of Mass. It consisted of just three sentences, one long one followed by two short ones, and the main long sentence exceeded one hundred words! To be honest, I really can't say what I specifically prayed for afterwards. I'd much prefer praying to St. Joseph using my own words. So pray to God in your own spontaneous way as often as you can and that would mean more to him and yourself.

***Only Trustworthy One***

        Sometimes we pray hard for something such as the conversion of someone we love and it seems that the Lord just doesn't respond. There's no doubt he hears all prayers said from our hearts, but he also tests our faith at times. We should see each time as an opportunity for us to trust in him even more! After all, the LORD is our only hope, for he is our creator, our loving Father, and our Savior.