**Only God Can Set Us Free**

         When you are able to forgive someone, you feel free instantly. This is how the Lord has made us, for he is our great liberator. At any rate, anytime you do his will, you feel free. Basically, we are good at enslaving ourselves and need the Lord to set us free.

**Weak Christians**

        Although Christians comprise only about 30% of the world's population, they must bear the blame for the world being in such a godless state, for the number of Christians who have surrendered completely to the Lord is relatively small. If they were all hot on fire, they should be able to convert the entire world in their lifetime. 

***Most Beautiful and Powerful***

        Communion experience. Love is the most beautiful and powerful force there is and our God happens to be love—this is no coincidence! Today I was invited to receive the most beautiful and powerful Lord into me! 

***Loving Mother Mary*

       At church this morning during Mass, I noticed the large bronze statue of Mary holding tightly her infant son Jesus in her arms to the right of the altar, and I thought of the intense unbearable pain she must have suffered when she saw him being crucified on the cross, for he was not only her Lord and God, but also her own son! For this, we should love our Holy Mother even more!

**The Lord's Warning*

         In today's Gospel reading from Luke 12, Jesus asked his disciples to remain vigilant, for at an hour they did not expect, he would come. Being vigilant and prepared is a clear sign that you follow him and expect his coming. But for all those unprepared, they'll get the shock of life.

**God Love Us . . .

so anything that's not intended for drawing you to him is most likely not from him.

**Beyond Belief**

        Communion experience. Christ is my Lord and my God—I am rich beyond belief!

***Going All the Way with God***

        If we truly love God, we'd loathe all worldly things. If we truly believe in God, we'd rely on him fully alone. If we are truly in union with the Lord, we'd think as he thinks always.

***Invincible Combination for Us***

        In today's first reading from Deuteronomy 6, Moses said to the people: "Hear, O Israel! The LORD is our God, the LORD alone! Therefore, you shall love the LORD, your God, with all your heart, and with all your soul, and with all your strength." This sounds proper and perfectly logical. If we keep this commandment faithfully, God will surely bless us to the full. Today's Gospel acclamation came from what Jesus said to his disciples in Matthew 17: If you have faith, nothing will be impossible for you. This sounds right and is totally logical. If we really believe in it, it should absolutely work out that way. With this powerful combination of great love for God and great faith in God, we shall surely be invincible!

**Another Joy**

         When we follow the Lord to the letter, we experience a special joy. Again, this is how he has made us!

***Our Only Choice***

        Today is the Memorial of St. Dominic. In the Gospel reading from Matthew, Jesus said to his disciples, "Whoever wishes to come after me must deny himself, take up his cross, and follow me. For whoever wishes to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it." So it comes down to choosing Christ or ourselves. This simplifies things, but it doesn't get us off the hook, for the choice remains. 

***When You Know You Know Jesus*

        In John 6, when some disciples of Jesus had decided to leave him, he asked the Twelve, "Do you also want to leave?" Simon Peter answered him, "Master, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life. We have come to believe and are convinced that you are the Holy One of God." When you don't ever want to leave Jesus, you know that you really know him.

***Praying Experience***

        Yesterday I got home after morning Mass and found that my wife had already been taken to emergency. I found out it's because her blood pressure shot way up for unknown reasons. Of course, I prayed hard for her. Now praying hard doesn't mean you panic and trying hard to pray. On the contrary, you simply open up completely to tell the Lord what you supplicate from him. Afterwards, you confidently trust that he's going to take care of things for you. Today my wife is still waiting to go through some tests, but so far it seems that she is returning to normal. I praise the Lord for that and look forward to her coming home later today. (It's almost 4 hours ago that I posted the above. I just learned that the doctors couldn't find anything wrong and she's on hr way home now,).

***True Savior***

        Communion experience. I realize that the Lord I consume is the only one who can heal and perfect my soul! He is my true Savior. 

*****Way to Become Perfect*****

         For us to be perfect is to be sinless, and that rules out all of us on earth. But there was one among us once and is still with us today who is forever perfect, and that's Christ the Lord. We absolutely need him because he's the only one who can also make us perfect.

**"Smart" advice**

        God's mercy is infinite, but his judgment is just and precise. We get either saved or damned in the end! So play smart and do your best to be on the right side of the Lord always. 

***Becoming Perfect***

        In Matthew 5:48, Jesus said to his disciples, "Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect." So Jesus wants us to be perfect, to be like the heavenly Father. And we know that when we see God in heaven, we'll be made perfect. Meanwhile, let's believe and be blessed. Seeking to attain union with God thru the Holy Eucharist will absolutely give you the best jump-start on becoming perfect. Yes, The Lord can make all of us perfect!

**What Are We Busy for?**

         I worked out at the gym a little bit this morning. It's a noisy place. You hear all the machines running, and weights banging and dropping all around plus loud music accompanying an ongoing exercise class. To counteract all that, seriously it's an appropriate time to say some prayers. Anyway, when I saw that everyone was busily doing their thing, I realized that this was also what's going on around the whole world. So what are we all busy for? Well, if we do not store up any treasure in heaven meanwhile, then we are squandering away all our valuable time on earth.