***Most Gratifying One-Way Trip***

        The process of attaining union with God through the Holy Eucharist may take a while for some, depending upon how you let yourself go. But once you get there, you'll feel so satisfied and fulfilled that you don't ever want to look back again; you simply want to go deeper into the most beautiful Lord. 

**May I Ask?**

        Why don't most Christians talk about Christ when they get together informally? Aren't we supposed to love him with all our heart, with all our soul, and with all our strength? If you are not very excited about the one you love, you are not really in love.

*****Only One We Need to Know on Earth*****

        Almost all of us have known or heard about people who died in our lives. So we all entered this world, get to know a bunch of people, and depart again. While on earth, we either got to know Christ or not. I can speak for all of us who came to believe in and followed him: When we leave this world, we'll be going to be with the Lord in heaven forever.

****God's Drawing Power****

        Communion time thought: Knowing the Lord makes you want to learn as much as possible from him. And anything he reveals to you is most sweet to the soul.

*Commandment vs. Tradition*

         In today's Gospel reading fro0n Mark 7, Jesus chided the Pharisees and some scribes for disregarding God's commandment but clinging to human tradition. We are the sane today. We follow social customs in doing what we think is proper in order to look right in others' eyes, not out of true love. This is a hard nut to crack because we all so care what people think of us. I hope that if we realize that this is not right, we are not true hypocrites.

**A Lovely Feeling*

         Today's Mass Response from Psalm 84 reads, "How lovely is your dwelling place, Lord, mighty God!" If you feel the same way and want to be there, you are close to the Lord.

**How Open Are We to God?*

        In Matthew 13:12, Jesus Jesus said to his disciples, "To anyone who has, more will be given and he will grow rich; from anyone who has not, even what he has will be taken away." Based on this, we can say that "To anyone who expects a lot from God, he will receive much; to anyone who doesn't, he will end up with naught." Basically, it comes down to how open we are to the Lord.

***God Cannot Be Fooled*

         If you think you can serve the Lord by doing some good works and gain entry into heaven, but still haven't gotten all your sins removed yet, you are only fooling yourself. Your good may outweigh the bad, but the former cannot cancel the latter. God does not judge us with a balance, but by our purity alone.

**A Top Priority**

        Most of us feel it's OK to go ahead and do whatever we'd like to do if it's not something bad. Strictly speaking, this is still self-serving. While what we want to do seems OK, it may not be God's will, at least not yet. For example, I get an idea of spreading the gospel and am excited about it, but I could be rushing ahead of the Spirit or the Lord might want me to do it some other way. So it's best to let him motivate us and show us the way in everything we do. This takes patience and self-effacement, but follow the Lord we must.

**Awesome Communion Experience

        The Most Perfect Infinite One melds with an imperfect finite one. It was overwhelming and most gratifying at the same time!

**Serving Self vs. Serving God**

         If we just do whatever we feel like doing without considering whether it's in conformity with God's will or not, we essentially serve Satan, for it's self-serving—and we'll never experience true peace. On the other hand, even if we always follow God's will, disturbing thoughts can still pop up. But we now know that they're not from the Lord and dismiss them right off the bat.

***Church Needs to Step Up Preaching*

         Currently, all the mega churches that have been preaching prosperity gospel for decades have started to fall one by one. These million dollar enterprises are facing closures. People have finally realized that God has never promised that he'll make youn rich if you believe in him enough. On the contrary, true discipleship requires taking up the cross and denying yourself. As far as the Catholic Church in the United States is concerned, the preaching in general has been on target but rather weak and unbalanced. Weak because the focus on the Lord is not that strong, and unbalanced because important basic topics we need to hear but might make some parishioners feel uneasy are not mentioned. America is supposed to be a Christian nation, but affluence and materialism have made it secular.

**The Lord "at Our Command"

        If we are in union with the Lord, anything we wish becomes ours.

**Ask and You Shall Receive**

         In today's First Reading from q Kings 3, the LORD appeared to Solomon in a dream at night. God said, "Ask something of me and I will give it to you." Solomon answered, "I am a mere youth, not knowing at all how to act. I serve you in the midst of the people whom you have chosen, a people so vast that it cannot be numbered or counted. Give your servant, therefore, an understanding heart to judge your people and to distinguish right from wrong." The LORD was pleased with Solomon's request and gave him a heart so wise and understanding that after him there would come no one to equal him. Surely the LORD is open to us asking for gifts that can help us serve him better. Every bit we receive can make us bear more fruit.

**Warning to the Unprepared**

         Be prepared or unexpected things will happen and shock you!

**Jesus Appearing in Iran**

         Please pray for the people of Iran that they will be freed by Christ and have peace.

**Today's Herods*

         In today's Gospel reading from Mark 6, we heard about the death of John the Baptist. King Herod feared John, knowing him to be a righteous and holy man. When he heard him speak he was very much perplexed, yet he liked to listen to him. This shows that he still had some conscience. Later, even when he knew it's wrong to get John beheaded, because of his oaths made to his daughter in the presence of all the guests, he still went ahead to get John killed. Many people today are like that too. They don't really understand Christ, yet they don't quite cut him off either. When it comes to commit a sin, they choose making themselves look good over not offending the Lord. These are all mixed-up folks.

**The Lord Does It All*

         Communion experience. I remained open to receive whatever messages and blessings the Lord wished to give me. Anything from him is good for the soul and exhilarating! We are now soulmates. 💕