****Serving the Lord for Free****

         This is today's entire Gospel reading from Luke 14: On a sabbath Jesus went to dine at the home of one of the leading Pharisees. He said to the host who invited him, "When you hold a lunch or a dinner, do not invite your friends or your brothers or sisters or your relatives or your wealthy neighbors, in case they may invite you back and you have repayment. Rather, when you hold a banquet, invite the poor, the crippled, the lame, the blind; blessed indeed will you be because of their inability to repay you. For you will be repaid at the resurrection of the righteous." This is the lesson to be learned. The Lord wants us to do good without expecting any repayment. Our focus is to love others for the sake of the Lord, nothing more. When we pray for others for their good, we want them to thank the Lord and not us—we are to remain anonymously in peace. When we forego all repayments in this life, the Lord is going to repay us in heaven without end!

***Are You Awake or Asleep?*

        If you truly realize that Jesus has died for your sins, you are awake and ready to embark on your journey towards heaven. On the other hand, if you don't care about the gospel at all, then you are asleep, basically regarding Jesus as having died on the cross for nothing. In this case, your self-pride has turned you into an ignorant, heartless fool. 

**All Planned Out**

        Today is All Souls Day to commemorate all the faithful departed. The Gospel acclamation, Matthew 25:34, reads, "Come, you who are blessed by my Father; inherit the Kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." It's the Lord speaking—he has clearly planned all this from the very beginning, Perhaps he even had the earth all planned out just for this purpose. Anyway, to inherit the Kingdom he has prepared for us is the big thing! 

**Following the Saints**

        Today is the Solemnity of All Saints. Here's the offertory antiphon from Wisdom 3: The souls of the just are in the hand of God and no torment shall touch them. They seemed, in the view of the foolish, to be dead, but they are in peace. Alleluia. Unlike non-believers, all of us who follow Christ likewise remain in peace, no longer experiencing any torment. Alleluia!

**To Be 'Tamed" by God*

        Since we have inherited the original sin, the tendency to sin is innate in us. It's like a wild animal that was born with the instinct to prey on other animals. If we love and train that animal right, there's a good chance of taming it. With us, we need God to "tame" us. We can accomplish this by opening up to him so that we may experience the greatest love from him. That should make us want to surrender ourselves to him and seek union with him. Once we attain union, we'll have a conscience so sharp that all sins become absolutely abhorrent to us! This should pretty much deters us from sinning again.

**Communicating with God, a Joy**

        Communicating with other fellow humans is not always easy. Sometimes it's not even possible no matter how hard you try. Now, communicating with the Lord God is an absolute delight, for you don't even need to use words and he already knows what's in your heart. He can never misunderstand you and will speak to your heart to inspire, illuminate, guide, or comfort you. 

*****God Becoming Real*****

         Since God is real, he can become real to you. Attain union with Christ through the Holy Eucharist and he becomes more real to you than anyone else you know. Such intimacy changes you to the core. All this proves that Christ is God.

**Bestest Prize*

        Communion experience. What I have won is infinitely better and richer than the lottery—ETERNAL LIFE!

***What God Wants of Us***

        The Lord God simply wants us to accept his love! Is this too much to ask, huh?

**Play the Ball Game Right*

        God respects our feee will, so the ball is in our court now. Choose him and we live. Reject him and we perish. This should now help you hit the ball the ball back right.

**Myopic and Dumb?*

        We are good at making sure that we remain physically healthy so that we may live as long as possible on earth. Yet we seem to be unconcerned about our spiritual well-being as to what will happen to our souls after we die. What has made us so myopic? Are we dumb or what?

**Intention Matters**

        In Matthew 5, Jesus said to his disciples: Be perfect, just as your heavenly Father is perfect. Of course, being mortal and on earth, we can never be as perfect as God is, but we must do the best we can. The Lord would be pleased if we have this intention. In Matthew 19, Jesus said to a young man: If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me. Now, many of us are married and have a family to support, so the Lord's advice is not practical for us. But we should be willing to follow it if it were practical. Again, intention matters. The Lord will judge us by our intentions, not just our outward actions. Proverbs 16:2: All one’s ways are pure in one’s own eyes, but the measurer of motives is the LORD. Again, in 1 Samuel 16:7, the Lord said to Samuel: God does not see as a mortal, who sees the appearance. The LORD looks into the heart. Amen.

**What Keeps Us Alive**

        Today's psalm response from Psalm 13: My hope, O Lord, is in your mercy. I, a poor sinner, dare to approach the Lord only because he is merciful. None of us can possibly survive without his great mercy.

**Beautiful Truth**

        In today's reading 1 from Romans 8, Paul wrote, "All things work to the good for those who love God." Here's a truth to believe in. Put simply, we love God and all will end well for us! Amen.

***What Much Longer to Keep God Waiting?*

        The Lord God awaits us to submit ourselves to him completely, that is, to acknowledge that he is our Lord, so that we may enter paradise. If you haven't done so yet, how much longer are you going to keep him waiting? Know that God will always win in any game you play with him. Lose to him and you win every time.

**Can You Really Escape from God?**

        This is a challenging question for every non-believer. I suppose that if you are a staunch atheist, the question wouldn't concern you. All I can say to you is "Good luck." Otherwise, if you have any common sense, the answer should clearly be no; and if you are wise, you would want to become a believer.

***Smart Approach to Knowing God**

        Seeking God is not the same as seeking how to know God. Unfortunately, many people follow the latter, spending a lot of time and still failing to know God. The smart approach is to go to Jesus directly, for he is ever present and ready to receive you. People don't do that—I think it's because they are not quite ready to abandon themselves to God yet. Once you turn to Christ, just open yourself up wide to him and he'll reciprocate by revealing himself to you—now you know him. (This is not a new message; it's just important enough to be reiterated.)

***Jesus' Death Accepted***

        Today Tuesday is the day of praying the Sorrowful Mysteries of the Holy Rosary. Here are my thoughts. If anyone suffers a death like Jesus', I would feel most sorry for that person. But Jesus' suffering and death are different and most personal, for he died for my sins so that I might live! And I don't mind that because deep down I know I am a sinner. This to me is a great blessing!