**Another Reason for Not Judging**

         Do not judge anyone, for if you had gone thru and experienced what that person did, you might not come out a better person than he is.

*****Most Beautiful Relationship*****

         The Lord's holy presence is fragrant and his love most sweet. Enjoy him to the fullest as your heavenly Father so that he may enjoy you to the fullest as his most beloved child!

***True Wisdom***

        Today is the Feast of the Holy Family of Jesus, Mary and Joseph. The Offertory Antiphon from Psalm 31 reads: I trust in you, O Lord; I say, "You are my God." My life is in your hands. Our life is truly in God's hands. Anytime he calls us to leave the world and go to him, we just have to go. Realizing this should make us put ourselves completely in his hands if we are wise.

***Only God Matters, Not Us***

        Anytime we do something and lose our peace, it's a sign we have sinned. Say we are being unkind to someones in presence of others and feel bad about it afterwards. If it's because we realize that we have hurt the Lord, then it is all proper and good! But if it's because we feel that we have looked bad in the eyes of others, then it shows that we still have that ugly ego in us. Now we have another sin on us! In sum, we should only feel bad for having offended God and never mind what others think of us. If they think of us poorly, we deserve that.  

**Getting Our Pass to Heaven**

        Today's Gospel account of the empty tomb from John 20: On the first day of the week, Mary of Magdala came to the tomb early in the morning and saw the stone removed from Jesus' tomb. So she ran and went to Simon Peter and John, and told them, "They have taken the Lord from the tomb." Then the two went out and ran to the tomb. When John saw the burial cloths there, and the cloth that had covered the head all rolled up in a separate place, he believed. So John saw and believed. We can assuredly believe too. When we believe, faith is born. We now get our pass to heaven.

**Trustworthy Gospel**

         Today is the Feast of Saint John, Apostle and Evangelist. Here's the Entrance Antiphon taken from 1 John 1:3—What we have seen and heard, we proclaim now to you. Know that John, the disciple whom Jesus loved, was an eyewitness at the transfiguration and crucifixion of Jesus and also saw the Risen Lord, so we can fully trust all his accounts in the book of John.

***In Gratitude to God's Love***

        Remain in union with Christ, learn everything from him, and let him shape and polish us in every way so that we may become even more pleasing and beautiful to him. Our reward will be great joy beginning now to eternity!

***Alone No More****

        Without Christ, we essentially exist alone, no matter how many people we know in this world. Once we know the Lord and become his forever, we are never alone again!

****Exemplary Rule for All Christians****

        Today is the Feast of Saint Stephen, First Martyr. This is the Response to readings from Psalm 31: Into your hands, O Lord, I commend my spirit. In the Gospel reading from Matthew 10, Jesus told his disciples not to worry about how they are to speak or what they are to say during coming persecutions, for they will be given at that moment what they are to say by the Spirit of the Father. This was exactly what St. Stephen did, and we should be like that too! It's being ready to comment our spirit into the Lord's hands at any time.

**What We Must Not Delay:

opening the door to Christ when we hear him knocking.

**Honest Truth**

       We'll have no peace (both external and internal) until we enter the Kingdom of God thru Jesus.

***New Life thru Death***

         To live or to die in Christ—which is better? Both are necessary. You live in him first. When you are satisfied and feel completely free, you know that your old self has died in him; you now live a brand new life in him. 

***Absolutely True***

        In the Gospels, Jesus said to his disciples, "To the one who has, more will be given; from the one who has not, even what he has will be taken away." This saying becomes absolutely true when you say "To the one who has Christ, more will be given; from the one who has not Christ, even what he has will be taken away."

**Christmas Joy Tainted

        Merry Christmas to all first! At Christmas time, many families get together with all the members of their own family. It's supposed to be a happy occasion, but many do it because they see it as tradition, an obligation, or an occasion to have a good time. But if there's no intention of celebrating the birth of our Savior, there can be no true joy. Also, those who already follow Christ can't help but feel the pain when they see the deep divisions amid the family because of him. Sorrow now pervades true joy.

***When we trust in God . . .

we become channels of his power for the good of all sinners.

**This I Know**

        There is an infinite number of things I don't know, but I do know without a doubt that Christ is our Savior, being the only light who can lead us out of darkness.

***Conversion Story*

        Here's a short video showing why an evangelical is becoming Catholic. This first reason he gives was also one of mine when I decided to become Catholic decades ago as a Presbyterian.    

***What to Avoid at All Costs***

        The pain of offending the Lord we feel in this life is real and can be unbearable. Imagine how bad the souls in hell must feel when they experience various even much worse pains that never end.