**Mark of the Blessed Christian*

         Today's Gospel acclamation, from Luke 12.37a: Blessed are those servants whom the master finds vigilant on his arrival, says the Lord. If you expect and look forward to the coming of the Lord at all times, you are blessed.

**Mishaps Can Be Blessings**

        We all have mishaps happening to us, causing pain or suffering. Since God loves us, everything he allows to happen to us has to be for our ultimate good. If you don't see that and blame God for it instead, no good will come out of it for you. Now, we are all sinners. Even if God forgives us all our sins, we still need to pay for our offenses, just like a remorseful criminal still having to serve his sentence. If we'd see all our mishaps as payment for our sins, they become blessings, for they will now shorten (or eliminate) our time in purgatory later! Suffering now is always preferable to suffering later after death.

***Time to Be Holy*

        The time to be holy is now when you are still alive. After you die, you cannot make yourself holier when you appear before the Lord.  Now is the perfect time to love your God as much as possible to be fulfilled to the max, and you'll experience freedom, peace, and joy, the three big blessings from him. 

****Changing Our Destiny***

        Part of today's Communion antiphon based upon Psalm 33:18-19: Behold, the eyes of the Lord are on those who fear him, who hope in his merciful love, to rescue their souls from death.... Know that as sinners, we are heading toward death. Therefore, we need to fear the Lord and hope in his merciful love to let him rescue our souls!

***Praying for Ourselves First***

        When other people hurt us, we usually realize it right away. But when we do something that hurts others, we are often much less sensitive to that. On judgment day, the Lord is going to show us all the times we hurt others. So let's be more aware of how we treat others. It'll be a good humble practice to pray for ourselves before taking any action. We might need more prayers than others!

***No Appointed Time for One Thing**

        If you are familiar with Ecclesiastes 3, you know that there is an appointed time for everything, and a time for every affair under the heavens. Looking at my own life, I see a time to give up certain worldly attachments, a time to change my entire outlook on life, a time to get ready for meeting my God and not to ever look back again.  The only big exception is that we should always love God. Keep that love alive and it will take us through eternity (of course, you can never get through it and that suits me fine)!

***Spiritual Blunders*

        There are many, but two cases I've recently noticed are as follows: (1) One claiming his belief in God, but not knowing anything about his God and it's not Christ. (2) One not totally rejecting Christ but choosing not to follow some of his teachings, such as that on forgiving others many times. Such blunders can be detrimental to one's soul.

**Praising Turning into Submission**

         I yearn to praise God, but words fail me. Out of frustration, I give up and switch to yielding myself to him completely. This is a lot easier and I am sure it pleases the Lord just as much. Praise God! 

**Feeling Sorry for the Right One**

        We profess to be Christians, yet among all the people we know or know about, we seem to think about or talk to Christ the least. So we may feel sorry for the Lord, but we really should feel more sorry for ourselves as the Lord is pitying us right now.

**Communioin Prayer

        After I received the Lord, I asked him to reveal all my faults and blemishes so that he may perfect me more. When you are holier, you always experience greater joy.

***Prayer for All Earthlings*

         From Holy Scriptures, what God has revealed to many saints, mystics, and seers, and numerous NDE accounts, we know that heaven and hell definitely exist. Those who believe in Christ know that the day of their death will be the day of entering paradise where their'll be totally free and enjoy bliss. On the other hand, those who don't know nor follow Christ are not sure what awaits them on the other side; they simply avoid thinking about it. We all live on the same planet now, how I pray that we'll all end up in the same happy place!

**Expecting the Unexpected**

        My brother-in-law just slipped and fell in his own house and suffered fractures of some bones. Now he has to have surgery to mend them. Unexpected things can happen to all of us and we need to be aware of that. The best way is to trust in Christ and put ourselves in his hands, then nothing will alarm us anymore. 

***Urgent Action Needed***

        Life becomes meaningful only when we realize that God is defending our souls all along in his continuing battle against the Evil One. Our eternal wellbeing is at stake, so it is crucial that we wake up and do our part! Christ has already made it clear as to how we can get ourselves saved. It's now-or-never time!

***In Another World**

        Communion experience. I am totally in the Lord, all his, feeling heavenly free!

*****This You Must Know*****

         We have no way of getting rid of or running away from our sins on our own, for they are blemishes on our souls. The God of Christ, the way and the truth and the life, is the only one who can take them away from us. How we need him!

****How to Become Super Free & Strong***

        Simple, you just love Jesus with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind.

**Being Wise Enough*

        It would be wise to be able to turn to Jesus to tell him that you love him, are sorry for all your sins and ask him to please forgive you before you die, for this would surely save you from going to hell. Then I realize that's not being wise enough, for what if you die suddenly or have dementia! So to be truly wise, you would turn to the Lord to reconcile yourself with him right now!

***Prayer Tips

        When we ask the Lord for a favor, we need to (1) submit ourselves totally to his will, (2) pray straight from the heart, and (3) be sure that our motivation stems from pure love. If I pray for someone sick in my family to get well so that the person may not become a burden to me, my motivation is no longer pure. Prayers should center on glorifying God alone.